


46 Days Later

by aLoggedInReader



Series: 46 Series [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adventure, M/M, Romance, season 5 alternate version, slow build Sabriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-10 23:51:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 129,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3307838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aLoggedInReader/pseuds/aLoggedInReader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of "Attack of the 46 inch Winchester" the Winchesters are grown ups again, but still have an Apocalypse on their hands. Gabriel's decision to join Team Free Will might just be the miracle they need to live through this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Treeni for beta reading!

**Prologue**

 

Chuck Shurley had learned what his purpose in life was two years earlier. Apparently, Chuck had never been meant to be the author of a, not really successful and discontinued series of books, he was a prophet of the Lord. Finding out that everything he had written about had actually happened to all too real people had been a shock, even though it explained a lot about how Chuck’s characters had never felt quite like his own. The writer knew that you had to give your characters a bit of a life of their own to be able to write about them, so they were more than cardboard cutouts, but they had always been too independent from any kind of plot Chuck’s imagination could have come up with. He could have hardly ever imagined Sam’s bout with Ruby on his own, he couldn’t even put it in the books. Of course, there was also the fact that basically everything he had ever written had come to him in a dream. Before Chuck had met the Winchesters for the first time, he had assumed that he was just going crazy. Strangely enough, finding out the truth hadn’t been that much better than the insanity option.

Knowing what was going on had undeniably changed Chuck’s life, but it had done nothing to make the side-effects of having all those visions any more bearable. That was what aspirin and alcohol were for. That Chuck’s self-medication regularly made him pass out somewhere around the house in the middle of the day, was something the writer could live with.

Gabriel found the prophet surrounded by papers and mostly empty bottles. The fact that Chuck was snoring softly, while lying on his couch in a striped bathrobe, a white shirt and boxer shorts with hearts on them, was highly amusing to the archangel.

Gabriel’s inner trickster just couldn’t let an opportunity like this pass, of course. The archangel pulled a can of whipped cream out of thin air and coated the prophet’s palm with a thick layer, all the while being careful not to wake the man. After Gabriel was content with the amount of whipped cream on Chuck’s hand, he made the spray can disappear and held a long feather instead. The archangel grinned and started to tickle the prophet’s nose.

Chuck scrunched up his nose a couple of times, frowning deeply in his sleep, before he finally brought up his hand to scratch the itching spot. He awoke with a start, as soon as the whipped cream hit his face.

“Morning, Prophet Shurley,” Gabriel greeted the human in a chipper tone. The archangel offered a package of wet wipes he had snapped into existence to the prophet with an innocent smile, before he went on talking, “I trust you know who I am.”

Chuck was still busy cleaning his face, but he took the time to nod. Of course, the prophet knew exactly who Gabriel was and everything about the archangel’s relationship to the Winchesters over the years.

“Good,” Gabriel nodded to himself contently. “How threatened do you feel right now?”

Chuck blinked a couple of times. He couldn’t help feeling a little threatened now that the archangel had brought the topic up. It hardly ever meant anything good, if somebody asked you how scared you were. Then again, Gabriel was on the right side from what Chuck had seen. “I… uh… not too much?”

“Perfect,” the archangel commented with a grin, “We don’t want Raphael to pop in, do we?”

Gabriel really didn’t want his older brother to crash the little friendly meeting the archangel had hoped to have with the prophet. Sooner or later, Gabriel would have to face his brothers, but he wasn’t ready for that kind of confrontation yet.

“I… I guess not,” Chuck stammered. The prophet remembered the last time Raphael had shown up in his house, all too well. He really could do without ever having any molars stuck in his hair ever again! Not to mention watching people explode in front of his eyes.

“Cooperative little guy, I already like you,” Gabriel stated with a grin, wrapping his arm around Chuck’s shoulders amicably. It couldn’t be said that all prophets in history had been nice or even decent people, but Chuck seemed to be one of the good ones.

“Chuck Shurley, I have come to take back what was supposed to be mine, anyway,” the archangel declared, before Chuck could get a word in edgewise. Not that the human would have anything to say that was even remotely as important as what Gabriel was getting at.

“I… I don’t…” the prophet frowned deeply, as he was trying to make sense of what the archangel had just said.

“Jeez, let a guy explain, will you?” Gabriel clicked his tongue disapprovingly. Of course, Chuck had no idea what the archangel had been talking about, that was the point of being cryptical! The prophet would have gotten his explanation in good time anyway. “I guess you’ve seen a lot of me over the past few weeks.”

“Kind of… you… uh… showed up a couple of times,” Chuck replied truthfully. In fact, the writer had seen a lot of the archangel during the time when he had been babysitting the de-aged Winchesters and wouldn’t Supernatural’s small fan base, have loved that story? Gabriel had also made appearances in the prophet’s visions afterward, indicating that whatever he was doing was going to influence the Winchesters’ story later on. Chuck thought he understood why the archangel had chosen to pay him a visit. “But I didn’t tell anyone! I swear!”

“Don’t worry, Chuckles, I know,” Gabriel stated with a shrug, pulling two chocolate bars from his jacket and offering one of them to the prophet. The archangel knew that he was putting Chuck under a lot of stress and in Gabriel’s experience, chocolate always helped with enduring things like that. “Luckily, my bigger brothers aren’t very good with creative thinking, but they’ll figure out that knowing what you know would be beneficial for their plans soon enough.”

Chuck nearly dropped the chocolate bar after hearing that. Of course, the archangel had made a logical assumption, but the writer had never thought of it like that. In fact, he had – probably foolishly – assumed that all the angels would just leave him alone, because as a prophet he was meant to write down whatever he saw. That Chuck had crossed paths with the Winchesters, more than once before and had ended up in his own books spoke against that theory, though.

“So I have decided that it’s about time we got you out of Raphael’s hands,” Gabriel explained, ignoring that the human was already struggling with what he had heard this far. There would be a time for caring about Chuck’s feelings and giving him the time to get used to things later, but this wasn’t that time. They had to move this along.

“Uh…” the writer replied as eloquently as he could bring himself to be that very moment.

“Glad to hear you agree with me,” Gabriel spoke, patting the prophet’s shoulder. Technically, Chuck hadn’t agreed to anything, but he hadn’t disagreed either and the archangel was willing to count that as a win for the team. “No need to worry, I was supposed to watch over the prophets before I became unavailable, anyway. I’m just staking a claim that’s stronger than Raphael’s. You’ll probably not even feel a thing.”

Gabriel had been their father’s messenger and the prophets were chosen people who wrote down whatever stories God decided had to be preserved for the sake of the humans. It hadn’t come as a surprise to the archangel when his father had asked him to watch over the prophets. The duty had only been passed on to Raphael after Gabriel had run away.

“Probably?” Chuck asked, his voice taking on a noticeably higher tone. Hearing that something ‘probably wouldn’t hurt’ wasn’t really reassuring. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like it was going to hurt terribly, but the archangel didn’t want him to freak out beforehand. Too bad that Chuck was already freaked out.

“Unfortunately, Raphael will feel it when I cut that connection,” Gabriel went on speaking, ignoring what the prophet had just said. They could deal with the human’s freak out later. “So we’ll have to relocate you. Pronto.”

It was quite likely that Raphael would come swooping in as soon as Gabriel took the prophet away from him, so they’d better make all the necessary preparations before that happened. The archangel was already mentally cataloguing all the things around the house Chuck was going to need to take with him.

“No worries, I have a wonderful place in mind, you’ll love it,” Gabriel promised, “And I’ll make sure that all your stuff gets there too.”

The archangel had multiple hiding places all over the world, but he had chosen to leave Chuck in the US for convenience reasons. Besides, with the protections Gabriel always kept up in all his hideouts, it didn’t make much of a difference where the prophet was going to be hidden.

“What… what about Becky?” Chuck hurried to ask while he still had the chance. The writer had to admit that he had only thought of Becky that moment, but he thought that it was understandable that his mind had been preoccupied given the nature of the conversation.

“Girlfriend, I’m guessing?” Gabriel asked with a smirk.

“We… uh… we’ve been dating…”Chuck explained. The way the writer blushed a little, reminded Gabriel of eight year old Sam. God, the archangel really missed the kids, but if everything went as planned he would at least get back into contact with the Winchesters again soon.

“You gotta ask yourself, Chuckles, do you want to drag her into this with you?” Gabriel shrugged casually. The archangel would be okay with taking Chuck’s girlfriend along, if the prophet insisted on it. Chuck had to make an informed decision he could stand behind later on, though. “I promise, the place I’m taking you to, is as safe as it can be, but you’ll still have to cut ties with everyone you know, at least for as long as the Apocalypse lasts. You’ll be on house arrest for a while too, just to make sure.”

In the end, it wasn’t that hard for Chuck to make a decision. Becky wasn’t the kind of person to go into hiding, burning all bridges behind her. The writer couldn’t imagine that she would be happy being stuck in a house with him 24/7 and to be quite honest, Chuck wasn’t all that sure if he would be happy having her around all day long every day, either.

The prophet took his cell phone, trying to decide how to go about this. It might have been a coward’s decision, but in the end he chose to write a text message to Becky. Chuck knew that he couldn’t tell her the truth, but he felt that he couldn’t just disappear without a word either.

“I’m ready,” the writer told the archangel a minute later, noticing that a lot of his personal things had already disappeared from the living room. Gabriel must have started to work on Chuck’s relocation while he had tried to decide what message to send to Becky. The prophet just hoped that his girlfriend wasn’t going to take his ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve got to leave’ all too hard.

Gabriel nodded, satisfied. He had gotten all of Chuck’s possessions – not including furniture – to the prophet’s new home. All that was left to do was to sever the bond between Raphael and the prophet.

Chuck shut his eyes, his face scrunching up as he tried to prepare himself for the possibility that this would probably hurt like a bitch. In the end, the writer only felt Gabriel’s hands on the sides of his head. It took a few moments before Chuck dared to open his eyes again. He was a little scared that the archangel hadn’t even started yet and he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

When the prophet looked around him, he realized that he wasn’t standing in his living room anymore. Not a single room in Chuck’s house had been this tidy in ages, not to mention the friendly colors the walls had been painted. A short look out of the window revealed that it was sunny – sunnier than Chuck preferred, but that was what blinds were for – and that they were in a street with very well kept single family homes.

Gabriel watched the prophet take in his new surroundings. It didn’t look like the man was immediately appalled by anything he had seen, which to the archangel counted as another win. “Welcome to Celebration, Florida.”


	2. Chapter 2

**1**

 

Like all other angels in existence, Gabriel had been unable to locate the Winchesters by himself, but unlike most angels in existence, the archangel had Castiel’s cell phone number and contacted his brother to find out what the hunters were up to.

It was just like the Winchesters to get themselves committed to a mental institution just when Gabriel was ready to join their little team of misfits. Not that the archangel was denying that the guys had issues, but they had chosen an inconvenient time to acknowledge it. Then again, it looked like the two hunters were there for business and not some tender loving care. The institution gave Gabriel the creeps and not in the way that it might have with normal people. Sure, mental hospitals never were nice places to be, but there was something going on here that just reeked of the work of a monster.

The archangel was going to take care of the monster problem later, though. First and foremost, Gabriel wanted to find the Winchesters, Sam Winchester, to be precise. It seemed like a safe guess that the younger brother would be more open to what the archangel had to say and Gabriel had never liked to make things more complicated for himself than they had to be.

“Gabriel!” Sam exclaimed happily when the archangel appeared in his room. The joyful tone combined with the way the younger Winchester’s eyes were dilated and unfocused gave away, that the human had been drugged. Gabriel took a mental note to ask what Sam had done to deserve that later on. Before the archangel could say anything, the younger Winchester decided to share an observation he had just made with the class. “You look so small. I remember you being much taller.”

“Hey kiddo,” Gabriel replied, chuckling. Of course, the archangel had looked much taller from the perspective of an eight year old kid. Sam voicing his thoughts on the topic was amusing, anyway.

The younger Winchester was lying curled up on his side, looking up at the archangel with a goofy smile on his face. When it looked like Sam was trying to get up, Gabriel quickly stood next to the bed to keep the younger Winchester from doing anything that would end with the human flat on his face. The archangel helped the drugged man to get into an upright position, propped against the headboard for stability. To Gabriel’s great surprise, Sam used the opportunity to wrap an arm around the archangel’s middle to keep him close.

“Larger than life Gabriel,” the younger Winchester mumbled, leaning his head against Gabriel’s chest with a sigh, “My personal guardian angel.”

Sam hadn’t told Dean, or anybody else, but after they had been turned back into adults, the younger Winchester had missed the archangel’s presence for quite some time. He had missed the easy camaraderie, the smiles, the little touches and the hugs. Sometimes, Sam thought that Dean had actually noticed, but wasn’t comfortable bringing the topic up. The younger Winchester hadn’t wanted to talk about it, anyway. Those feelings had felt stupid and crazy to Sam, but in that very moment, they somehow didn’t. The hunter was vaguely aware of the fact that it had something to do with the drugs he had been given, but they also did a bang up job with making him not care.

“Whatever they gave you, I want some,” Gabriel stated, petting Sam’s hair a little awkwardly. Cuddling with the eight year old had been one thing, cuddling with the adult was another entirely. Not that the archangel didn’t like the contact, it just felt different. What really made it awkward was knowing that as soon as the drugs wore off, Sam was going to push Gabriel away. No doubt about it.

“Are we going to spend a week with you again?” the younger Winchester asked in a hopeful tone, looking up at the archangel, “Can we have a nice Christmas this time?”

Gabriel couldn’t help laughing at that. It was such an innocent request and it reminded the archangel a lot of little Sammy. It was good to know that the tiny kid that had gotten along so well with Gabriel was still somewhere inside the giant of a man, even if that part of Sam was probably a part that the younger Winchester wouldn’t show normally.

“That what you want, Sambo?” the archangel replied in a soft tone, still petting the taller man’s hair.

“I don’t like Christmas, but I don’t like Halloween either and you made that good,” Sam answered, before he scrunched up his face remembering how their Halloween experience ended for them, “Kinda.”

The picture of a Christmas tree with tacky decorations and fairy lights was on Gabriel’s mind before he could keep it from forming. There weren’t many things the archangel could have liked better than to give his boys one more good holiday, but the circumstances had changed dramatically since the last time they had spent time together.

“You’re cute when you’re drugged off your feet,” Gabriel commented once he had managed to drag himself out of his thoughts, “Too bad I need you sober.”

The archangel put two fingers against Sam’s forehead, chasing every last trace of the drugs the younger Winchester had been given, out of the human’s system. Gabriel knew that the younger Winchester was back to his usual self the moment the human let go of the archangel and scrambled to get off from the opposite side of the bed to bring some distance between them.

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Somehow, every time they met Gabriel it ended with the younger Winchester being embarrassed and speechless.

“What did they give you all those happy pills for, anyway?” the archangel asked to end the awkward silence between them. They would have to work out where they stood in relation to each other eventually, but there were other matters to be dealt with first.

“We are hunting a wraith and Dean was sure that he knew who…” Sam started to explain, before his face paled noticeably, “I need to talk to him, apologize.”

“Calm down, Sambo, we’re going to go find your brother in a minute,” Gabriel replied in a soothing tone, automatically reaching out to the taller man before he pulled his hand back again. The archangel hadn’t thought that it would be this hard to not fall back into the pattern he had established when it came to comforting a distraught eight year old Sam.

“Not Dean. I need to talk to that doctor. I… I tried to kill him,” Sam swallowed hard. Sure, Dean had seen Dr. Fuller’s distorted face in the mirror and it would have made sense that the wraith, that had been killing patients of the facility, was somebody who could move around freely whenever he pleased, without anybody batting an eye about it. That didn’t make it any better that Sam had attacked the man with the intent to kill him, when it had turned out that Dr. Fuller was an ordinary human being.

“I’m sure it was an honest mistake,” Gabriel tried to reassure the younger Winchester. In the business the Winchesters were in, mistakes were bound to happen. It was regrettable, but unavoidable, even for the legendary Winchester brothers hunting team. Apparently, Sam wasn’t willing to let the archangel make excuses for him, though.

“How does that make it better?” the younger Winchester shot back. It wouldn’t have helped the doctor or his relatives any that it had been an honest mistake that had led to him getting killed. It didn’t help the world any that it had been an honest mistake that had started the Apocalypse. Then again, Sam didn’t think that he deserved to claim an honest mistake on the end of the world. It had been his fault and he had to own up to it.

“Okay, fine,” Gabriel groaned, throwing his arms in the air exasperatedly. There was no comforting somebody who didn’t want to be comforted. “You want me to disappear or make myself invisible?”

Sam nodded and waited for the archangel to be gone before he knocked on the door to get someone’s attention. The younger Winchester had the strong feeling that he needed to apologize as quickly as possible and not only because he needed to be allowed to leave the room, if he wanted to be any help to Dean. Actually, with Gabriel around Sam wouldn’t need anybody’s permission to leave the room, but he still wanted to apologize.

What the younger Winchester didn’t know was that the archangel had never left the room. Gabriel had given the human two options and Sam hadn’t chosen one, so the archangel had made the choice for him. Making himself invisible had been the preferable option to Gabriel, because he could see and hear everything that was going on that way.

The orderly who first noticed Sam’s knocking seemed astonished to see the man back on his feet a couple hours earlier than they had anticipated. In the end, the nurse put the fact that the medication had lost its effect so quickly on the sheer size of the patient and the fact that they hadn’t had to medicate him before and thus hadn’t known how his body was going to react. The nurse went to alert Dr. Fuller as quickly as possible.

“Thank you for talking to me after…” Sam hurried to say when the doctor came into the room, “I am very sorry for what I did. I thought you were… a monster. But I know better now. After what happened, I had a...moment of clarity. I realized...there's no such thing as monsters.”

Of course, the younger Winchester had lied, but to be taken seriously with his apology he had to make the doctor believe that he was somewhat sane that moment. Insisting that monsters really did exist, but that Sam understood that Dr. Fuller wasn’t one of them wasn’t the way to go to accomplish that.

“Well, I'm glad to hear you say that, but, honestly? Monsters are the least of your problems. People can learn to live with delusions, but the anger I saw in you...You hurt those two men, and you were going to kill me. The look in your eyes when you came after me, I...It was like you were barely even human...like a man possessed,” the doctor replied, not unkindly, but the words hit Sam like a slap to the face, anyway.

“I am so sorry,” the younger Winchester whispered, “I just want… a second chance, please.”

Dr. Fuller agreeing to allow Sam to go to the day room was the one thing that kept Gabriel from giving the man an uncomfortable rash on places he couldn’t scratch in public. The archangel realized that the man hadn’t done anything to deserve his wrath, but Gabriel had the strong impulse to make somebody pay for the helpless and forlorn expression on the younger Winchester’s face. Apparently, the instinct to protect the kid hadn’t gone away just because he was an overgrown moose of a man again.

“You don’t believe that, do you?” Gabriel asked, making himself visible once more. The question was a little redundant, because the look on the younger Winchester’s face showed very clearly that he believed every word the doctor had said.

“Were you here this entire time?” Sam sighed, rubbing his forehead to ward off the oncoming migraine. Hearing someone analyze his character like Dr. Fuller had, was bad enough without the archangel being present to hear every single word!

“I asked you if I should disappear or make myself invisible, you let me choose which one,” Gabriel shrugged, failing to make the gesture look completely casual. Of course, the archangel realized that he had abused a loophole, but what had Sam expected from a trickster?

“Sam, you know that what he said was a lot of bullshit, right?” Gabriel asked again in a softer tone. That doctor didn’t know enough about the Winchester’s real lives to make that kind of observation for starters. Besides, the archangel had started to feel a strong urge to protect Sam during the time they had spent together around Halloween and it hadn’t just gone away afterward.

“What? The part about me barely being human? About my anger at everyone and everything getting two innocents hurt and nearly getting another killed?” Sam retorted in a surprisingly emotionless tone. It wasn’t really a question, anyway. Those things were true as far as the younger Winchester was concerned. That he didn’t like those truths about himself, didn’t make them any less accurate.

“You had reasons to believe…” Gabriel tried once more, only to be rudely interrupted before he could even finish his statement. The archangel made a mental note about the younger Winchester disliking people trying to defend his actions. Gabriel had a feeling that piece of information was something that’d be very useful to remember in the future.

“Excuses,” Sam huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“You realize that some excuses are valid,” the archangel shot back, mimicking the younger Winchester’s stance.

“Whatever you say, Trickster,” Sam stated, turning toward the door to go to the day room. Of course, the younger Winchester would be under supervision of a bunch of people who thought he was insane, violent and dangerous there, but that seemed better than staying in the room with the archangel that very moment. Besides, they still had a case to work on.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gabriel asked, raising his eyebrows and walking after the taller man. If Sam wanted to throw something at the archangel, he’d better make sure that Gabriel understood what he was talking about.

The younger Winchester turned around to look directly into the archangel’s eyes as he said, “Whoever said Dean was the dysfunctional one, has never seen me with a sharp object in my hands.”

Sam turned around and left the room while Gabriel stared after him flabbergasted and feeling thoroughly chastised.


	3. Chapter 3

**2**

 

“Dean! What’s going on here?” Sam exclaimed as soon as he found his older brother huddled up against the wall of the day room. The younger Winchester didn’t think that he had seen his brother this openly and obviously scared since their run in with yellow fever, a fact that spoke for itself. Something was definitely fishy.

“I’m going crazy, Sammy,” Dean replied, looking at his younger brother for a moment before he quickly looked away again, as if he had seen something unpleasant, “I was having therapy sessions with… nobody. She was only in my head! And now I’m seeing wraiths everywhere!”

Sam frowned deeply. That Dean was having hallucinations explained how it was possible he had mistaken Dr. Fuller for a wraith. There was no explanation for why the older Winchester was seeing things that weren’t there in the first place, though. Alright, there was a very obvious explanation, but they had already jumped to conclusions once before. Sam wasn’t too eager to repeat the mistake they had made, especially not with the psychiatrist’s words were ringing in his ears.

“What the hell is happening?” the younger Winchester asked, turning to Gabriel. The archangel was standing next to Sam casually, looking around the room and unwrapping a piece of candy. Sam couldn’t be sure, but he assumed that Gabriel was assessing the situation and looking for their wraith under the façade of mild curiosity he had put up.

“Hell’s got nothing to do with it,” Gabriel explained, popping the lemon drop into his mouth before he extended his hand toward the older Winchester, “Your wraith must have gotten his fingers on Dean-o.”

Dean looked like he was ready to bolt, staring at the archangel’s hand as it came ever closer to his head, as if it was a deadly weapon. Sam couldn’t help thinking that, in theory, Gabriel’s hands actually were deadly weapons. Not that the archangel would have to touch them to kill them or that he’d want to kill them in the first place.

The younger Winchester put a steadying hand on his brother’s shoulder, effectively keeping Dean from running away with the gesture, too. As much as the overly cocky and confident attitude his brother often displayed annoyed Sam, he clearly preferred it over the ‘deer caught in the headlights, ready to bolt’ version of Dean he had in front of him.

“Maybe it got you, too. I didn’t pay that much attention to what drugs exactly, I removed from your system,” Gabriel told Sam, while he pressed two fingers against Dean’s forehead to rid him of the wraith’s influence. A part of the archangel had hoped that the younger Winchester would take this new – and this far best – excuse for any kind of violent behavior he might have displayed earlier and run with it, but one look at the taller man’s face revealed that he wasn’t dreaming of it.

“So you’re saying that the wraith got in contact with both of us?” Sam asked with a frown. That new piece of information didn’t make it much easier to figure out who the wraith was. There were a few people they both had been in contact with since they had gotten themselves committed.

“Bingo,” Gabriel replied, shaking his head slightly when he saw the thoughtful look on Sam’s face. Like the Winchesters would really have trouble finding the wraith now that the archangel was with them! Gabriel just had to get one look at the thing to know exactly what it was, no matter how good its human disguise might be. Perks of being an archangel.

“Sam, what’s he doing here?” Dean groaned, blinking a few times. The older Winchester felt like he had just woken up from a very realistic nightmare, but Gabriel’s presence made him wonder if he really had woken up yet.

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know,” Sam shrugged, throwing a side glance toward the archangel. The younger Winchester realized that he should have asked why the smaller man had shown up in the middle of a hunt, but he had been a little preoccupied.

“I’m helping you muttonheads, that’s what I’m doing,” Gabriel stated, throwing his hands in the air showily. It was just typical Dean behavior to immediately be suspicious. The older Winchester could use a few lessons in trusting the people who had helped him previously, but the archangel had other priorities than coming up with some pocket universe that could teach Dean exactly that.

“We were doing fine without you,” Dean huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Alright, things hadn’t looked that great for them for a minute there, but they would have solved their problems and the case soon enough. There was absolutely no need for the archangel to be there!

“Yeah, I could see that,” Gabriel commented with a slight smirk. However, this wasn’t the time or the place to have a pissing contest with Dean, so the archangel decided to get them back to the other topic at hand. There would be a time to discuss everything else once they were done with this case. “Let’s just get rid of that pesky wraith and get back to your home base. There’s so much we need to discuss.”

Sam looked surprised at that announcement, but not in a bad way. The younger Winchester had sounded so hopeful when he had asked, if the archangel was going to be around for a longer period of time, while Sam was still under the influence of the drugs. The drugs were gone, but the human obviously still liked the thought of having Gabriel with them.

“If you think that we’ll…” Dean began to protest. The older Winchester didn’t even get to finish his statement about how delusional Gabriel had to be if he thought that they were going to work with him, though.

“You have an Apocalypse at your hands, I have a way to stop it. You sure you don’t want to talk to me?” Gabriel asked in a serious tone. The stunned silence that announcement got from both brothers was enough of an answer. “Thought so.”

Sam didn’t want to get his hopes up, but there was a part of him that simply trusted that Gabriel was going to make things right for them. Dean, of course, looked more suspicious than anything else. The older Winchester didn’t believe that things that were too good to be true could be anything other than lies.

“You really have a way for us to… stop all this?” Sam asked quietly, his eyes searching Gabriel’s for any trace of deception. The younger Winchester wanted to believe that the archangel was telling the truth, he wanted Gabriel to have the solution for their problem and he wanted them all to work on it together, because that was their best shot at stopping the Apocalypse. At the same time Sam couldn’t help thinking that the last time they had had a plan, Ellen and Jo had died for it and it had all been for nothing.

“I’m on your side, Sambo,” Gabriel replied just as quietly, touching the human’s arm reassuringly. That however, ended abruptly when Dean decided to obnoxiously clear his throat. The archangel knew that he’d have to prove himself to a lot of people, before they would consider him as just another member of the team, but it looked like it wouldn’t be that hard to get back into Sam’s good graces, at least.

 

* * *

 

 

In the end, the hunt for the wraith was over as quickly as it had begun. The nurse had walked around the corner, Gabriel had caught one look at her and had snapped his fingers to make her go up in flames. Of course, Dean had complained that it had been their hunt and that they were perfectly capable of finishing their own hunts, but even the older Winchester had to admit that only a very small pile of ash being left instead of a whole body, made it much easier to escape without raising all the alarms.

Once they were standing next to the Impala, it became clear that none of them knew where they were going from there. Gabriel had already told the two Winchesters that he wanted to talk to them, but what he was planning wasn’t a conversation they could have in passing, standing in a parking lot.

“You want to talk? Fine,” Dean decided after a few moments of heavy silence, “We’ll be at Bobby’s in about ten hours.”

Listening to what the archangel had to say was a good idea, even the older Winchester had to admit that. Even though he didn’t trust that Gabriel had the solution he had said he had, Dean still acknowledged that they had to give it a chance. It wasn’t like they already had a plan to even work with, so anything might turn out to be better than nothing.

“What? I don’t get to ride with you?” Gabriel asked in a teasing tone, nodding toward the Impala. Honestly, the archangel had only brought up the possibility of driving to Sioux Falls with the Winchesters, because he knew that it would annoy Dean. The older Winchester was too easy to tease at times.

“You’re not getting into my baby again,” Dean replied, stony faced. They weren’t going to spend hours with the trickster in the backseat, absolutely not! It was bad enough that they’d have to spend time with the little bastard when they arrived at Bobby’s!

“You were saying?” the archangel’s smug voice came from the backseat of the Impala, just a second after Dean had made his opinion on him being in the car clear. It was admittedly, only about proving to the bullheaded Winchester that there was nothing he could do to keep Gabriel from doing whatever the hell he wanted.

“Dean, can’t we just…?” Sam suggested diplomatically, rubbing his forehead. The younger Winchester just wanted to get away from this place and talk about the plans Gabriel had been speaking about. He didn’t want to watch his brother and the archangel having a pissing contest, especially since it was quite likely that Gabriel would zap himself out of the car after ten minutes the latest. Apparently, Dean was counting on the archangel’s boredom, too. He had different ideas about how it was most likely going to play out, though.

“No! I’m not spending ten hours on the road with him!” Dean interrupted his younger brother in a defiant tone, “I don’t want him to get bored and litter my baby with his candy wrappers, I don’t want him to prank drivers that pass us by and I don’t want him in my car!”

The older Winchester could already see them driving into trees or getting off the road, because of some stupid thing the trickster had done. Dean also didn’t fancy the thought of being hunted down by a biker gang, because of Gabriel throwing candy at them! Besides, the older Winchester wanted to speak to his brother just between the two of them before they talked about any plans the archangel might have.

“If you put it like that, Dean-o,” Gabriel stated, once more standing outside of the Impala, “Ten hours is awfully long. I’ll meet you there then.”

The archangel was gone within the blink of an eyes, but Sam couldn’t help feeling a little paranoid. The younger Winchester didn’t mention the fact that Gabriel might have made himself invisible instead of disappearing to his brother, though. There was no need to bring Dean’s mood down further.

“Ten hours, Dean?” Sam said after they had gotten into the car. It didn’t really matter, if Gabriel heard about that little detail. For all the younger Winchester knew, the archangel knew everything about how long driving certain distances took, anyway. “The way you drive, we’ll be there in eight.”

“So? Maybe I just want a little more time without that dick with wings,” Dean retorted, pulling out of the parking lot. It was worrying that Sam apparently didn’t see things the way his older brother did. The older Winchester feared that they would have to have a probably, unpleasant conversation about Gabriel’s involvement in their lives soon.

“Do you think he’s really going to help us?” Sam asked a few minutes later. The younger Winchester wasn’t sure if Gabriel had been in the car with them at the start of their journey, but he was confident that the archangel wouldn’t hang around for more than three Metallica songs. Gabriel seemed to be a ball of energy usually. It was doubful that the archangel could sit still for longer than that.

“Who knows?” Dean answered, shrugging. The older Winchester threw a side glance toward his brother and couldn’t say he liked what he saw from his brother. Dean sighed heavily before saying, “Sammy, I know… I know you liked him when we were both younger, but he’s still the fucking Trickster.”

The older Winchester had the sinking feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time he’d have to say something on the topic. Sam might be acting reasonably this far, but it would have to been seen how long that was going to last when they spent more time around Gabriel. Dean hadn’t forgotten how much his brother had latched on to the archangel during the time they had spent with the man as kids.

“I know, Dean,” Sam replied, not quite meeting his brother’s eyes. The archangel’s second identity as the trickster was something the younger Winchester doubted he would ever forget. Sam wished he could forget it and just focus on the things Gabriel had done for them – especially, for him. Apparently, that was exactly what Dean was afraid of. Of course, the younger Winchester could see where his brother was coming from after the entire disaster with Ruby.

“Just don’t get your hopes up,” the older Winchester stated. He didn’t give his younger brother the chance to reply before he reached for the radio to turn the volume up. They had a couple more hours before they had to deal with the trickster again and Dean fully intended to enjoy them.


	4. Chapter 4

**3**

 

Gabriel had actually considered waiting for the Winchesters to arrive before he entered Bobby Singer’s house. The archangel had only met the older hunter once, but he was sure he hadn’t left the best impression back then. First impressions weren’t exactly his thing, not that Bobby could do anything to seriously hurt Gabriel, even if he tried, but it would be best to make sure that they got a good, fresh start. The archangel couldn’t stop from thinking that it would help if Sam was present. Dean probably wouldn’t have anything nice to say about Gabriel, but he had somesmall hopes that the younger brother would speak in his favor.

In the end, the archangel didn’t have the patience to wait for the Winchesters to arrive. It didn’t help that Gabriel knew that Tarot was staying with Bobby Singer and was curious – and a little anxious as well – to see how his little brother was doing after everything.

To his credit, Bobby barely flinched when the trickster suddenly appeared in front of his desk. The sandy-haired angel who had helped the hunter translate an ancient text didn’t fare quite so well. Tarot jumped, his first instinct to run or hide, but there was a demi-god threatening Bobby’s safety. The angel was visibly shaking, but he stood his ground and even took a protective stance.

Gabriel smiled at that display of protectiveness. It took a few moments before it hit the archangel that he looked like the trickster to his younger brother. The little one was braver than Gabriel had given him credit for. However, the moment Gabriel dropped the disguise and let his angelic self shine in its full glory, was the moment when Tarot shrieked, terrified and hid behind Bobby’s wheelchair. Apparently, the archangel had misjudged what his little brother really was afraid of. It hurt a little to be one of the things that made his own brother cower in fear. It also made Gabriel wish Zachariah was still alive so that he could kill him all over again.

“Stay where you are! You’re scaring the boy,” Bobby demanded in a gruff tone, as soon as the archangel showed signs he was about to take a step toward them. The hunter had grown fond of his angelic roommate over the weeks. The seraph was quiet, didn’t stand in the way and always tried to make himself useful. Of course, Tarot was also obsessed with making all of Bobby’s clocks show the exact same time, stared into space quite frequently and jumped at just about any loud noise, but the hunter couldn’t help liking him anyway.

“That ‘boy’ was created ages before your earliest ancestors were a thought in my father’s head,” Gabriel pointed out casually, taking a handful of M&Ms out of his pocket. The archangel had a massive sweet tooth, there was no use denying it, but he had also discovered early on that stuffing his face with candy was a way to appear more harmless and less aggressive. Not that it helped much when Tarot had closed his eyes and was hugging himself while cowering behind the hunter.

“You keep your distance and don’t upset him any more or we’ll find out how an archangel likes a shotgun blast to the face,” Bobby retorted. The hunter reached behind his chair to put a calming hand on the shaking angel’s shoulder. Sometimes the gesture worked like a spell, but Bobby had the nagging feeling that Tarot wasn’t going to calm down that easily when the archangel was still standing there.

“I’m so scared right now, wheels,” Gabriel replied, clicking his tongue, “Speaking of which, you should come over here for a moment.”

Finding out that Castiel was unable to heal people since he had been cut off from heaven and thus couldn’t give Bobby the use of his legs back, had hurt badly. Hearing that Tarot had been cut off from heaven when he had went missing and thus couldn’t heal anybody either had been somewhat expected, but had still hurt. The thought hadn’t occurred to Bobby at first, but having the archangel around was the best shot at getting out of that damn chair as he was going to get. The hunter tried not to get his hopes up when he maneuvered the wheelchair around his desk, anyway.

Gabriel studied the last two of his M&Ms for a moment, popping them into his mouth when Bobby came to a halt in front of him. The archangel had considered waiting on healing the hunter until the Winchesters had arrived, so the two could see with their own eyes that he was willing to do things for them and their allies. However, Gabriel had changed his mind. The archangel didn’t want to put up a show, he wanted everyone to know that he was genuine.

The wheelchair bound hunter looked a little suspicious when Gabriel touched his shoulder. It was just a moment later that a look of utter disbelief and then pure joy crossed Bobby’s face. The hunter couldn’t get out of his wheelchair quickly enough for his taste.

“I’ll be damned,” Bobby mumbled in wonder, standing in front of the archangel. The hunter felt like his knees might give up on him any moment, but it had nothing to do with any physical injuries.

“Damnation isn’t a service I offer, old man,” Gabriel stated with a grin, “Consider it payment for taking care of my brother.”

Tarot was peeking over Bobby’s desk every now and then to see what was happening, but was keeping his distance. Still, considering the state the seraph had been in when Gabriel had last seen him, his little brother was clearly doing better.

“You took care of my boys,” Bobby replied. Judging by his tone, the hunter wasn’t over his amazement at being able to stand on his own two feet again yet. Still, it had to be said that both Sam and Dean had been in good hands when the archangel had taken care of their de-aged selves. Bobby appreciated that more than he could put into words he was comfortable with using around the trickster. It looked like Gabriel understood what he was trying to say, anyway.

“You don’t know half of it yet.”

 

* * *

 

 

Surprise didn’t even begin to cover what both Winchesters felt when Bobby opened the door for them. The brothers had always hated seeing their father figure sitting in the wheelchair, especially with how obvious it was how much Bobby was suffering. It was easy to see that the older hunter was much more content. In fact, he looked as close to joyful as Bobby Singer was ever going to get.

“I have to admit, this wasn’t what I expected when the trickster showed up in my study,” the older hunter explained with a shrug, even though he suspected that the boys already knew how he had gotten the use of his legs back.

Even Dean had to admit that there was at least one upside to having Gabriel around. The older Winchester still wasn’t going to let his guard down around the archangel any time soon, but there was no use denying that the trickster had done them all a favor by healing Bobby. Actually, Dean could admit that Gabriel had done them a pretty big favor by keeping them out of harm’s way for a week when they been turned back into their much younger selves and standing up for them when trouble had inevitably come looking for them, but the older Winchester wasn’t going to say it out loud any time soon. The one thing Dean really didn’t like about all this was that Sam had been very close to Gabriel when he had been an eight year old kid for the second time. The older Winchester couldn’t help fearing that Sam would be severely disappointed by someone he trusted once more and that was the best case scenario. In the worst case they had someone even shoddier than Ruby on their hands and his younger brother was already falling for it.

Luckily, Dean’s attention was claimed by an ongoing conversation Gabriel and Castiel were currently engaged in as soon as they got into Bobby’s study. Apparently, the two angels had been talking for a while already and it didn’t sound like they were making idle small talk. That at least kept the older Winchester from painting any more dark pictures of things the future might have in store for them. Not that the talk the two angels were having was all that lighthearted from the sounds of it.

“… was damaged even before he has been cut off from heaven,” Castiel said matter-of-factly. The seraph realized that he had chosen the wrong thing to say, as soon as he saw Gabriel’s reaction to his words. Castiel couldn’t decide if appalled or annoyed was the right word to describe the archangel’s expression. It probably was a mixture of both.

“How does that make anything better?” Gabriel groaned, shooting the quiet seraph sitting in the corner of the room a look. To his shame, the archangel had taken a while to figure out what exactly had bothered him a little since he had first laid eyes on Tarot. When Gabriel had finally seen the connection between the seraph and the old hunter for what it was, he had called Castiel and demanded his immediate presence. To tell the truth, the archangel would have told his dark-haired brother to come by for the talk he was going to have with the Winchesters, anyway. The new revelations had just sped things up a little.

“You seemed concerned about Tarot being at the beck and call of a human,” Castiel stated, trying to share his entire thought process with his brother, so he might get a chance to figure out where exactly he had gone wrong. “I am telling you that this is by no means putting too much power in the hands of Bobby Singer. Our brother might very well be the one seraph in existence whose power levels are lower than mine currently are.”

It was only then that the seraph noticed the Winchesters had arrived and had heard every word he had said. Castiel’s eyes met Dean’s for a moment before the seraph quickly looked away. He hadn’t meant for his charges – especially Dean – to know how far he had fallen already. The blue-eyed angel didn’t want to see the look on the older Winchester’s face when he realized how useless the seraph was becoming. If he hadn’t turned his eyes away, Castiel would have seen the flash of concern that crossed Dean’s face before the hunter schooled his features to look neutral again.

“Cassy, sometimes you’re awfully dense,” Gabriel sighed, acknowledging their audience with a curt nod, “Old Grumpy is about as trustworthy as they come. What I am concerned about is enslaving one of our brothers, even if you’re giving him a good master.”

Bobby huffed out a breath and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The older hunter wouldn’t have said that the trickster was particularly trustworthy, but it was interesting to know that Gabriel thought him to be so.

“I agreed,” Tarot mumbled, to the surprise of everyone. The seraph had been extremely tight-lipped the entire time he had been around Bobby’s, only speaking when it couldn’t be avoided and sometimes when he had been asked a direct question. It was obvious that talking in the presence of his angelic brothers made Tarot extremely nervous, but he managed to stutter, “T-the p-plan… I a-agreed to it.”

“No offense bro, but I doubt you were in any condition to give consent to anything,” Gabriel pointed out, keeping his tone calm and quiet. The archangel would never claim that he was the most sensitive person, but he didn’t want to make his little brother uncomfortable when the seraph had only just managed to speak his first few words to him.

“It was you who told me to take care of the situation with our brother in whatever way I see fit,” Castiel stated in a nearly petulant tone. The seraph had done the best he could have in the situation and he stood by his decision, especially since his sandy-haired brother had agreed to it. Granted, the alternative had been to keep Tarot entrapped in a circle of holy fire in the basement and the seraph had known it.

“W-we c-can break the s-spell after… when…” Tarot mumbled, rocking forward and back in his seat in a motion he usually managed to draw some comfort from. If they lived through the Apocalypse, they could sever the bond, or so Castiel had told his brother. Tarot didn’t know and didn’t care how exactly that was going to work. In fact, the sandy-haired angel was quite content with the way things were. Of course, he was broken in ways that would always hurt and inconvenience him, but everything could have been much worse.

“That’s a good keyword, if I’ve ever heard one,” Dean interrupted the ongoing conversation the angels were having. It clearly wasn’t going anywhere and they had other things to discuss anyway. “You were saying something about a way to stop the Apocalypse. Why don’t we talk about that instead of making a big issue out of something that’s not bothering anyone right now?”

Sam didn’t say, that he for one was bothered by the implications of Tarot being bound to Bobby as he was and the younger Winchester knew for a fact that the older hunter didn’t like it, either. Actually, Bobby had told Sam that it was very awkward to talk to a person, always having to be careful not to say anything that could come across as a command. Gabriel was right in his opinion about Bobby. The older hunter was pretty damn trustworthy. Dean was right, though. They had other things to talk about. Besides, his older brother wouldn’t take it very well, if Sam sided with the archangel in the matter. Especially, when that also entailed siding against his brother’s favorite angel.

“I don’t have _a_ way to stop the Apocalypse,” Gabriel replied, turning to look at the Winchesters and their mentor. The archangel had a winning expression firmly plastered on his face, as he finished his statement, “I have two.”


	5. Chapter 5

**4**

“How the hell did you find two ways to stop the Apocalypse?” Dean demanded to know, as soon as the realization of what Gabriel had just said had sunk in. The older Winchester could buy that the archangel knew of a way to stop the Apocalypse, because there was no use denying that Gabriel would know more about these things than they did. It begged the question then why the angelic douche had taken this long to tell them about it, though. Whatever, beggars couldn’t be choosers, Dean had been prepared to give whatever plan Gabriel told them about a chance, if it sounded realistic. However, that the archangel suddenly claimed to have two ways for them to get out of what heaven and hell claimed were their destinies, was suspicious.

“I’ve got my sources,” Gabriel shrugged casually, “If it makes you feel better, Dean-o, it took me over six weeks to gather all the information I needed. No need to feel bad about not finding them with your limited possibilities.”

In fact, the humans wouldn’t have stood much of a chance to uncover any of the information the archangel had acquired with the help of Metatron. They wouldn’t have been able to find the seraph to begin with and they wouldn’t have known what to offer to Metatron to get him on board with them. Gabriel wasn’t sure if the part about getting revenge on the archangels or the part about being kept out of everything after handing over the needed information had been more important to his brother, but both together had been an offer the scribe hadn’t been able to refuse. Not that the archangel would have wanted to work with Metatron a second longer than necessary.

“Where did you find information like that, brother?” Castiel asked, frowning. The seraph did not doubt that his older brother had a lot of sources, but the angel felt that he had to right to know which of Gabriel’s sources would have extensive knowledge of the Apocalypse.

“The scribe was happy to assist me,” Gabriel replied, grinning. Happy was by no means the right word to describe how Metatron had acted when he had seen the archangel, not that any of the others would know that. It would have to stay Gabriel’s little inside joke.

“Metatron is a runaway, a traitor and an enemy of heaven,” Castiel stated, distaste all too apparent in his tone.

“So?” Gabriel retorted. Apparently, the archangel needed to spell the obvious out for his little brother. “Right now that applies to all of us. Who’s better to figure out how to thwart heaven’s plans than somebody who’s wanted to rain on their parade for ages?”

The older Winchester had to admit that everything Gabriel had said sounded logical, but he didn’t like Castiel’s reaction to hearing the name of the archangel’s source. Dean trusted Cas’ judgment more than Gabriel’s any day.

“What are the plans?” Sam asked quickly before anybody could change the subject. The younger Winchester just wanted Gabriel to tell them how they could end the Apocalypse. Sam was at a point where he didn’t care what he’d have to do to stop what he had started. Just as long as there was an opportunity that he could stop it.

"Alright, listen up. Basically we have plan B, which you two are already working on," Gabriel started to explain, "Getting the rings of the four horsemen."

It paid that the archangel had kept an eye on Sam and Dean even before he had lured them into TV-land. Gabriel knew that they had already met and beaten War, which only left the other three horsemen. Famine and Pestilence wouldn’t be easy to get rid of that was for sure, but it was Death they really had to worry about.

"Why are we working on plan B?" Dean asked in a challenging tone, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The older Winchester wouldn’t like to hear it, but he reminded the archangel a lot of a certain twelve year old kid he took care of recently.

"Because plan A involves getting things like the Philosopher's Stone, but if you think you'd do better with that than me, by all means, go ahead!" Gabriel offered, spreading his arms. Of course, the archangel didn’t want the Winchesters to work on plan A for other reasons as well, but if he so much as hinted at that, he’d have three very suspicious hunters at his hands. If everything went well, the two brothers would only find out about those other reasons when it was already too late to stop him.

“Oh please, how hard can that be? An eleven year old could do it!” Dean snorted. It wasn’t surprising that the reference went straight over Castiel’s head, while Sam only shook his head slightly, shooting his brother one of his best ‘really, Dean, really?’ looks. At least, it looked like Bobby was amused.

“Let me guess, you’re still waiting for your admission letter to Hogwarts?” Gabriel asked in a teasing tone. The archangel fully expected the older Winchester to take the bait and get upset, but was surprised when Sam was the one who got impatient with him.

“Can we please get back to stopping the Apocalypse?” the younger Winchester piped up, clearly anxious to return to their initial topic. Sam’s eyes met Gabriel’s for a short moment. The taller man thought he saw the archangel’s expression soften for a moment, but he might have imagined it.

“Sure thing, Sambo,” Gabriel replied in an upbeat tone, clapping once to get everyone’s attention before he continued to explain, “The rings of the horsemen combined are the key to Lucifer’s cage. If we can open it, we can shove his ass back in.”

Dean huffed, but didn’t say a word. Unfortunately, the archangel’s plan was the best one they had – though Gabriel apparently believed that he had a better one up his sleeve yet – but that didn’t mean that the older Winchester had to like it. Getting the rings off the horsemen’s fingers would be bad enough, but having to get close enough to Lucifer to shove him back into his box was downright suicidal!

“I have to agree with Dean-o there. It’s too damn risky, which is why it’s plan B,” Gabriel stated, as if he was reacting to something the older Winchester had said out loud. Sometimes, a huff said more than a thousand words. “Plan A is getting the things for a spell together that’ll make it impossible for Michael and Lucifer to go through with their prize fight.”

The archangel knew that he wouldn’t get away without saying more on the topic. None of the people present trusted Gabriel enough to just take that very unspecific description and roll with it, even for a couple of minutes.

“How?” Bobby asked. In theory, any possibility to keep the two archangels from butting heads was a chance they should take. That however, didn’t mean that it would be a good idea to just take the trickster’s word for anything. Even if Gabriel would work to collect the ingredients he needed for the spell by himself, they should still have a general idea of what the archangel was doing. Not to mention that there was a chance that Bobby could find some sort of confirmation Gabriel had told them the truth about the spell in the first place.

“Those two clashing is like a bunch of atom bombs going off, but not if we take the explosives out,” the archangel replied, letting his eyes wander from one man to another to see, if everyone had understood what he had been talking about.

“You intend to strip them of their powers?” Castiel frowned. It seemed logical, that Gabriel would prefer an option that would most likely leave both Lucifer and Michael alive. If the spell the archangel was speaking about was legitimate, it would be the most peaceful way to stop the Apocalypse from running its course, too.

“Someone give the man a cookie,” Gabriel stated with a grin, snapping his fingers and making an enormous cookie appear in Castiel’s hand when nobody else moved to do as he had said. It was quite humorous how the seraph eyed the cookie and tilted his head, unsure of what to do with it now that he had it.

“I have never heard of a spell like that,” Castiel replied, looking for a place to put the pastry down. There were chocolate chips in it and they were melting in the seraph’s hands. In the end, the angel put the cookie at the edge of Bobby’s desk, making a mental note to offer it to Dean later on. The older Winchester might appreciate it.

“I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. Word of God,” Gabriel said solemnly. “The ingredients will be hard to get, but it’s the best shot we have.”

The archangel snapped his fingers again, conjuring up a piece of paper and handing it to Sam. Even though Gabriel wanted to be on good enough terms with everyone around to be able to work with them without greater troubles than absolutely necessary, the younger Winchester was the one the archangel really hoped to get along with again. It was foolish to hope that Sam was ever going to look at Gabriel the way his eight year old self had again, but he hoped becoming friends might be possible.

“The Philosopher’s Stone, a fruit of the tree of life… the holy grail?” the younger Winchester read out loud, his eyebrows rising in further disbelief with every point of the list he recited. “Hard to get, huh?”

Bobby took the list from Sam the moment the younger hunter was done reading. It sounded too insane to be true, so the older hunter had to see for himself. Any spell calling for all of these things had to be damn powerful, but judging by what they were trying to achieve, it was a given that it’d need a lot of juice.

“I’m on it,” Gabriel said with a confident smile, “Besides, looking at plan B, your shopping list isn’t that much better than mine.”

Sam huffed, but smiled slightly as he shook his head. The younger Winchester didn’t need to say that having a list of seemingly impossible things was still better than having nothing at all and he knew that his brother could agree with that. At least, they’d have something to work toward.

“I say, we meet again tomorrow morning to talk strategies,” Gabriel suggested a moment later. The Winchesters had a long drive behind them and it wasn’t like anything was going to happen in one night. Besides, the archangel had a feeling he should leave the boys and their mentor alone for a while so they could discuss things they wouldn’t want to speak about while Gabriel was listening.

“Fine,” Dean replied with a sigh, “You bring the pie.”

If they had to see the trickster regularly, they might as well get something out of it. Dean could admit that every single pie Gabriel had given to them while they were staying at his place had been delicious.

“Why, Dean-o, I’m starting to think there’s something about me you like,” Gabriel retorted in a mocking tone, before he disappeared.

“I’ll look into this,” Sam announced, trying and failing to hide his grin with the piece of paper he had taken back from Bobby in the meantime. While he was at it, the younger Winchester also intended to see if he could find some information on the other horsemen of the Apocalypse. The more they knew before Gabriel came back, the better.

The older Winchester nodded curtly, waiting for his younger brother to leave the room, before he turned his attention toward Castiel. There was an issue that needed to be addressed and Dean wasn’t happy with the fact that he hadn’t even known the problem existed before he had accidentally witnessed a conversation between Gabriel and Castiel.

“C’mon, boy, there is a broken clock in the attic I meant to show you,” Bobby addressed Tarot, who hadn’t moved from his seat in the corner the entire time the archangel had been present. In fact, it had been easy to forget that the angel was there at all. Bobby didn’t think that Dean would want to have a talk with Castiel while Tarot was still listening and he also didn’t want the older Winchester to – accidentally – scare the angel by telling him to get out or something alike.

The sandy-haired angel stood up immediately, staying as close to the wall as he could while he approached Bobby. It seemed like Tarot was really looking forward to getting his hands on yet another broken clock or watch to repair. That and brewing coffee were the two things that never failed to make the seraph happy, for some time at least.

“Cas, how bad is it really?” Dean asked as soon as he and Castiel were alone. The older Winchester had known that Castiel had been kicked out of heaven and that it was affecting him in some way, but he hadn’t known what that meant exactly. After the bit of revealing information Dean had overheard earlier, he wanted to know more.

“I don’t…” Castiel replied, before he was rudely interrupted.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Dean insisted staring the angel down, which was by no means an easy task. The older Winchester could understand that Castiel probably wanted to ignore the issue. As much as Dean hated it when Sam didn’t let him get away with that sort of behavior, he still wouldn’t let the topic go.

“As you know, I have lost the ability to heal,” Castiel admitted, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly before he added, “I find it is getting more difficult to perform tasks like transporting people or flying great distances.”

Dean had to admit that he had never given much thought to how hard or easy these angel-things were for Castiel. Looking at how frustrated Castiel obviously was from the decrease of his powers, the older Winchester realized he should have considered these things earlier.

“Okay,” Dean finally stated ineloquently, “That sucks, man.”

“I am still capable…” Castiel began to defend himself, before he was once more interrupted.

“I know, Cas,” Dean replied, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “You’re still badass. I know that.”

Despite himself, Castiel smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**5**

 

Sam spent a couple of hours brushing up his knowledge on the myths surrounding the objects Gabriel needed for the spell he wanted to work. It wouldn’t hurt to know what they were talking about, even if the younger Winchester had been sure that he and Dean wouldn’t stand much of a chance to acquire the objects themselves. Sam didn’t have a problem with Gabriel being the one responsible for these things anyway, but he had a feeling that his older brother wouldn’t agree with him on that easily.

In the end, the younger Winchester fell asleep over a stack of papers and books. Sam knew it was going to be a bad night before the dreamscape around him was even fully formed. He had learned how to read the signs some time ago. The younger Winchester wasn’t alone in his dream, he could feel the other presence even before he saw the fallen angel standing in the middle of the park Sam had dreamed up.

At least, Lucifer had stopped disguising himself after those first few times when he had let Sam believe that he was Jessica. The younger Winchester didn’t like feeling grateful for anything the devil did, but he was certainly glad that Lucifer was appearing as his current vessel these days.

Sam tried his best to completely ignore the other man’s presence, turning around to walk away. Honestly, what the younger Winchester hated the most about Lucifer’s nightly visits was that the devil always ended up seeing something that felt deeply personal to Sam. The park they were in was the place where the younger Winchester had learned his first few soccer moves as a kid. It was questionable if Lucifer knew anything about that or how exposed it made him feel, but he was an intruding in one of Sam’s memories, anyway.

“Don’t be like that, Sam,” Lucifer said in a deceptively soft tone, suddenly standing in front of the younger Winchester again, “We can have a nice civilized talk, can’t we?”

Sam huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest in exasperation. Walking away wasn’t an option, he had known it wasn’t even before he had tried. The younger Winchester attempted to give a clear sign that he didn’t want anything to do with the devil, though. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Why not? Afraid you’ll say yes to me accidentally?” Lucifer asked, an amused smile tugging at his lips, “I wouldn’t let that happen, Sam. I want your consent and I’m going to get it eventually, no need for trickery. Don’t you see Sam? We want the same thing: a better world and we can make it, together.”

The worst thing about the devil as the younger Winchester knew him was how nice Lucifer could appear, if he wanted. Compared to the other angels they had come across, Lucifer wasn’t even that pushy and this far he hadn’t done anything that counted as torturing Sam to get what he wanted. The younger Winchester knew exactly where all this was going though, once Lucifer managed to make Sam believe in his twisted honesty enough to let his guard down.

“Though, even you have to admit that it would be humorous. Me asking you ‘Do you really want me to leave you alone?’ and that was what got you to say ‘Yes’,” Lucifer mused, his body language completely relaxed, like he was in control of everything that was going to happen. To be fair, the fallen angel was in control. When the human failed to give a reaction to the devil’s statement, Lucifer shrugged casually, saying, “No? I guess it’s only funny for an outsider.”

Sam pulled a face, but didn’t comment. It was bad enough that the fallen angel insisted on talking to him ever so often, the younger Winchester really didn’t want Lucifer to go all comedian on him now, on top of everything. It was just another pathetic trick to win his favor. Strangely enough, the devil stayed quiet for a few long moments. The silence was only broken when Sam snapped, “What do you want? Why are you even here? You already said that I’ll come to you in Detroit.”

“Is it really so bad for me to want to stay in touch with my vessel? We’re going to spend a lot of time together in the future, Sam, I’d like to get to know you before then,” Lucifer replied kindly. It would save them all a lot of frustration and grief, if Sam would only accept his place. The fallen angel was only trying to make that easier for the human. The hunter would see that Lucifer wasn’t the villain in this story soon enough. Once the younger Winchester accepted that fact, they could work together to fulfill their destinies.

“I’ll never say yes to you!” Sam declared with conviction. The younger Winchester wasn’t going to let his brother down, not again. Sam wasn’t going to make a mistake even bigger than his last. They had plans now, even if the younger Winchester couldn’t allow himself to think of them, because Lucifer might pick up on something the devil really wasn’t meant to know. They were going to stop the Apocalypse, their way.

“We’ve been over this,” Lucifer sighed disappointed, even though his empathy was fake, “Yes you will. Not today, but some day. It’s what you were born for.”

The fallen angel could see that his vessel wasn’t quite ready yet. The younger Winchester still held some hopes of evading his destiny. The human would first have to see that there was no getting away, before he would be able to accept his fate.

“Think about it Sam. You never fit in. Not with your family and not with anybody else,” Lucifer added in a nearly tender tone, stepping closer to the taller man, “Because you always belonged with me.”

Sam shook his head in denial, stumbling back when the fallen angel took one more step toward him. Lucifer had this way of hitting by far too close to home with his statements for the younger Winchester’s liking, but expecting the devil to show some common courtesy and decency was stupid anyway.

“Don’t listen to him!” Gabriel exclaimed, suddenly appearing next to Sam. Lucifer’s entire body language changed from relaxed and collected to tense and aggressive so quickly that it made the younger Winchester’s head spin. However, Sam’s main focus was on the smaller man with the golden eyes that were fixed on his. Before his older brother could say or do anything, Gabriel extended his arm toward the human. “Take my hand. I’ll make it alright, munchkin.”

 

* * *

 

 

Sam woke up with a start, sitting up so quickly that he knocked Gabriel’s hand off his head, before he even realized that it was there. The archangel was looking at the younger Winchester worriedly, standing just a little too close to the human for comfort. Then again, Sam wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, either. Maybe this was why Dean always complained about Castiel not understanding the concept of personal space, but never did anything against it anyway.

“Are you having dreams like that often?” Gabriel asked in a soft tone similar to the one Lucifer had used earlier, but it didn’t raise any of the same alarm bells in Sam because the emotion in Gabe’s voice was honest. The younger Winchester knew that he should have been way more wary of the archangel in front of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much when Gabriel had just gotten him out of one of his nightmares. Sam settled for simply nodding his answer to the question he had been asked.

“Alright, that’s over now,” the archangel smiled sadly and put his palms against the sides of Sam’s head. Gabriel thought about warning the younger Winchester to try and not get his head scanned anytime soon, because the doctors wouldn’t know what to think of the new warding sigils they’d find, but the situation didn’t call for humor.

“Thank you,” Sam sighed, a weight he hadn’t even realized he was carrying was lifted off his shoulders. In theory, as long as Lucifer didn’t get more forceful in his methods, all the younger Winchester had to do was saying no every time the devil showed up in his dreams or otherwise. On paper it looked simple, but Sam himself hadn’t even fully realized how much pressure the situation put on him, until Gabriel had ended it.

“We need to talk, Sam,” the archangel insisted, once it looked like the younger Winchester was capable enough to tackle another problem that really needed to be dealt with, “About what you said back at the hospital.”

There hadn’t been a good moment to bring up the obvious issues between them before, but Gabriel didn’t intend to ignore them for a moment longer than absolutely necessary. For his plans to work out in the best way possible, the archangel needed the other team members to trust him. Gabriel knew that he’d never have Dean’s full trust and that it would be very hard to get Bobby’s, but he had some hopes to win Castiel, Tarot and the younger Winchester over.

“Look, I’m sorry, I am,” Sam was quick to assure the archangel, “I was angry and overwhelmed and I just… I… I really get it now, okay? You were trying to teach me a lesson to prevent all this from happening in the first place and I just didn’t understand it.”

Granted, the archangel had tried to use a language to get through to the younger Winchester that Sam simply hadn’t understood, but after everything that had happened due to his refusal to let his revenge on Lilith go and deal with Dean’s death, Sam got what lesson the trickster had tried to teach him. The younger Winchester still couldn’t imagine not doing anything and everything in his power to keep Dean from going to hell, if he was faced with a similar situation again, but he now understood that he had gone about it the wrong way.

“How is it your fault that I make a very bad teacher?” Gabriel retorted, his voice taking on a harsher tone than he had meant to use. Somehow hearing Sam belittling his – more or less – justified feelings over something that had been done to him – by the archangel nonetheless – made Gabriel angry. Not so much at the younger Winchester, but at whoever or whatever had ever taught the taller man that way of thinking. Then again, Gabriel had probably done his part in that respect, too.

“What?” Sam asked ineloquently, staring at the archangel like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. The younger Winchester hadn’t liked it when Gabriel had made excuses for Sam’s behavior, but the way the archangel had put his self-accusations into a question caused the tall human think about it more carefully than he usually would have before dismissing it.

“I admit, back then I meant every word I said and I felt fully justified in my actions,” Gabriel went on, choosing his words carefully, “But I didn’t really get you back then. I didn’t know you.”

“Because you know me so much better now,” Sam snorted.

“I do,” Gabriel insisted, fixing Sam’s eyes with his own to convey how serious he was about all this, “You’re not eight years old anymore, but that little munchkin is still somewhere inside your overgrown self.”

The younger Winchester didn’t have anything to say to that. Of course, the kid he had been held a certain influence on the adult he was now, even though Sam often felt like he had let his younger self down in almost every single aspect of his life. That kid had hopes and dreams and Sam had messed them all up.

“The one difference between that kid and you I see is that back then you allowed yourself to be scared,” Gabriel added a moment later, smiling fondly while he thought back to the eight year old who had come to the archangel for reassurance when the weight of things had become too much for him to carry alone. Actually, Gabriel had only come to appreciate that after the children had been gone from his life again. It had felt good to take care of somebody again and to be a person others looked up to for guidance and comfort. It had reminded the archangel of a time when the seraphs had still been young and in need of a big brother to guide them and of a time when Gabriel had still cared about people enough to really listen to their problems and worries.

“If you think that I don’t get scared anymore…” Sam began, in a clearly confused tone. The younger Winchester wasn’t quite sure what the archangel had tried to say, but he felt like it had been important enough to ask for clarification.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Gabriel interrupted Sam, “I’ll bet you get scared a lot and that you’re scared of a lot of the same things you were scared of as a kid. I just think you’re keeping all that stowed away behind a wall of anger. Keeps you standing, let’s you go on fighting when you want to cower in fear and cry.”

The anger that had led the younger Winchester on the very dark path that had made him break the last seal, was at its core the fear Sam had always had of losing his brother and being left behind all alone. The archangel could see these facts all too clearly now.

“Look, Sam, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for passing judgment over you without bothering to understand your real motivation first,” Gabriel concluded, putting a hand on the younger Winchester’s shoulder. The archangel felt like they both really could use the contact. Holding back had never been Gabriel’s strong suit. Besides, he thought that Sam would give him a clear sign, if he didn’t want to be touched.

“I don’t know what… thank you,” the younger Winchester replied, smiling slightly. It wasn’t exactly the dimpled smile Gabriel would have liked to see, but they had a lot of time to make that happen. The archangel doubted that they could get the same kind of connection back they had had when Sam had been a child, but maybe they could create a new one that’d also allow the younger Winchester to give one of his adorable, carefree smiles that showed off his dimples every now and then.

“No sweat, kiddo,” Gabriel shrugged, before he added in a conspiratorial whisper, “You’re still my favorite, you know?”

The archangel wasn’t quite sure what kind of reaction he had expected to his little confession – that was a lot more heartfelt than Sam probably gave him credit for – but the one he got made him very happy anyway.

“I’m glad you’re here.”


	7. Chapter 7

**6**

 

Everything was quiet when Sam - Gabriel in tow - made his way to the kitchen. Bobby’s house was one of the very few places where Dean felt comfortable enough to sleep through the night and the oldest hunter was probably sleeping like a baby after finally spending time on his feet, just because he could again. Sam didn’t know when exactly Castiel had left or where he had gone, but their angelic friend never stayed the night so his absence wasn’t anything to be worried over.

The younger Winchester wasn’t proud of it, but he jumped a little after reaching for the light switch in Bobby’s kitchen and suddenly being faced with Tarot standing just a couple feet away from him. The angel hurried to put more distance between them immediately, though Sam assumed it was more about the archangel than him.

“I just wanted a cup of coffee,” the younger Winchester explained, his voice automatically adopting a quiet and soft tone he had started to use around the seraph. More often than not the angel looked uncomfortable with being addressed no matter who was talking to him and no matter what tone of voice they used, but Sam would have felt like a bastard if he hadn’t at least tried to make things as comfortable as he could for the seraph.

Gabriel was about to snap his fingers and simply give the younger Winchester the coffee he wanted, when Sam grabbed his hand and stopped him, nodding toward Tarot. The archangel frowned uncomprehendingly, before he realized that there was a small smile on his younger brother’s face as the seraph worked Bobby’s coffee machine. It seemed ridiculous and illogical, but it was the happiest Gabriel had seen his brother since that night in the warehouse when Castiel had captured him.

“Brewing coffee is therapeutic, who knew?” Gabriel commented casually, shaking his head. The archangel was still nowhere near happy with the way his younger brother was living these days, but at least he had seen some sign that Tarot was – at least sometimes – content, but there was room for improvement. Gabriel had noticed a few things about the seraph that only needed a bit of grace and a touch to fix. After the archangel had already made a little breakthrough with the younger Winchester earlier, he felt in the mood to continue working on getting on the good side of people he cared about.

The coffee cup Tarot had held out for Sam to take shattered on the floor, the angel’s shaking hands unable to hold on to it any longer before he cowered against the wall, the seraph’s arms shielding his head. The younger Winchester quickly took hold of Gabriel’s shoulders before the archangel could make the mistake Sam had, when first faced with a scene like this. As tempting as offering comfort might be, they had to leave the angel alone so he could pull himself together again.

Apparently, the younger Winchester had misjudged what Gabriel’s first impulse was, though. The archangel left the kitchen even before Sam could say anything or prompt him to move. The younger Winchester couldn’t help thinking that he should have expected it. Gabriel had abandoned all of heaven before, after all.

“Gabriel, it wasn’t your fault,” Sam said in a soothing tone, as soon as he caught up with the archangel, “Only Bobby can touch him without something like that happening.”

The younger Winchester wasn’t sure if it was a side-effect of the strange bond between Bobby and Tarot or if the angel had simply learned to trust the older hunter over the weeks, but Bobby was the only person who didn’t make the seraph panic with a simple touch. Sam understood that the situation had to be frustrating for Gabriel.

“Heaven was screwed up when I left,” the archangel stated in a strangely detached voice, keeping his back to the younger Winchester for a moment longer before he turned around to face the taller man. The fire in Gabriel’s eyes stood in stark contrast to the way he had been speaking and it surprised Sam immensely.

“This is screwed up!” the archangel declared in a heated tone, waving his hand toward the kitchen, “And I did nothing to stop it!”

The Winchesters had hunted the trickster more than once, always knowing that they were putting their lives in danger when doing it. Still, Sam had to say that while the trickster had always been a monster, he hadn’t exactly scared him. Not in the way a wendigo gave him the creeps when only looking at it, or the way a ghost screamed danger the moment he laid eyes on it. The trickster was very dangerous, but he had never looked the part. That moment however, the younger Winchester could see Gabriel’s scary side. The intensity of the archangel’s look and words was menacing without a doubt, Sam wasn’t sure what to make of it, though.

“Don’t do this to yourself,” the younger Winchester sighed, “Look, it sucks, it does, but if you start blaming yourself already…”

In all honesty, Sam was a little afraid that Gabriel might walk out on them all, if things became too difficult for the archangel’s liking. Granted, he had stuck with them to the end when they had been children in his care, but looking at what they were trying to do, things would get a lot worse than they had been that Halloween evening with Zachariah after them.

“We could really use your help in this,” Sam stated seriously, looking directly into Gabriel’s eyes, “And not just for now. I’m talking about long term.”

The younger Winchester wanted to believe that the archangel had thought all of this through and that he wasn’t going to abandon the mission, leaving them to sort things out on their own. However, the truth was that things had changed since Sam had been a little kid who looked up to the angel and trusted with every fiber of his being that he’d make things right. Maybe, a little voice in Sam’s mind supplied, things hadn’t changed as much as Sam feared.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Gabriel promised with a smile and added, “We’re going to make a change! We’re going to tear this freaking system down!”

Sam knew Dean was going to rip him a new one for it, but the younger Winchester believed what the archangel was saying. As much as the taller man knew that he should at least have a little doubt, he didn’t. Sam thought that Gabriel had been remarkably honest with him a couple of times when the younger Winchester was an eight year old boy, but it was nothing compared to the sincerity the archangel had spoken with in the past few minutes. It was scary in a way, but more than anything else, it gave Sam hope.

The moment between the two men was over when they heard Dean walking downstairs, obviously on the phone with someone. Gabriel put his usual smirk back on his face just before the older Winchester entered the room. Sam wasn’t sure if he was honored or worried, because the archangel had apparently meant for nobody, but him to see the raw honesty he was capable of.

“Blueberry pie, Sambo, antioxidants galore!” the archangel stated, as if they really had a conversation about pie before Dean had come along, “It’s healthy! Besides, by now you’re really done growing… I hope.”

Sam shook his head, more about the sudden change of mood in Gabriel than the stupid joke, but only smiled and took the pie from the archangel’s hands. That the thing had appeared out of thin air wasn’t exactly a surprise and probably wouldn’t have made Dean suspicious, even if he hadn’t been busy with his phone call. From the sounds of it, the older Winchester was talking about a possible haunting, so they’d be on the road again after breakfast the latest.

 

* * *

 

 

Sam and Dean had been on the road for less than four hours when both their cell phones announced the arrival of a text message at exactly the same time.

“Seven days until Christmas at old grumpy’s house, I’ll bring the booze,” the younger Winchester read out loud, wishing he hadn’t the moment his brother groaned deeply and glared into his direction. It wasn’t like Dean knew that it had been Sam who had brought the wish to have a nice Christmas celebration up to Gabriel – though in his defense he had been under the influence of heavy medication then – but the older Winchester had always been one for shooting the messenger.

“Come on, Dean, it’s only a suggestion,” Sam shrugged as casually as he could, putting his phone away, “We’ll probably still be busy with the case then, anyway.”

Besides, it wasn’t like they wouldn’t have gone back to Bobby’s anyway, after they were done making sure that their old babysitter’s house was safe for her and her family to live in again. From what Dean had told his younger brother, it sounded like a poltergeist. Unfortunately, the thing had already gotten violent and had wounded Clara’s daughter.

“We haven’t been busy with a simple salt and burn for a week ever since… we’ve never been busy with a simple salt and burn for over a week ever!” Dean shot back with a snort. Sometimes the older Winchester could appreciate his brother’s tries to help him calm down, but not when they were as stupid and unrealistic as this one had been! The trip there and back was going to take them a day each at least, but that still left them with more than enough time to find information on the ghost and burning the bones before they’d have to make the drive back to be at Bobby’s for Christmas.

“So? It might still turn out to be something else. Knowing our luck it’s something that’ll take until New Year’s!” Sam huffed. Things had never been easy for them and they hadn’t gotten lucky that often in their lives, but lately their misfortune had reached ridiculous levels. Then again, they had an archangel on their side and two new plans to stop the Apocalypse. Only Dean seemed to add those factors to the list of negative things.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Dean suddenly asked in an accusing tone, “Spending Christmas with him.”

It was quite likely that they would have gone back to Bobby’s after dealing with the ghost situation at Clara’s house, unless something else had come up. They would have spent Christmas there ignoring the holidays together as much as they could. Hell, maybe they wouldn’t even have ignored it all and maybe would have watched a couple movies on TV while getting drunk on spiked eggnog. Dean wouldn’t have minded any of that.

What the older Winchester minded was knowing that the archangel was planning things for them and that they really didn’t have anything to say in it. Dean planned to tell the short douchebag exactly what he thought of that as soon as he got the chance. Hell, the older Winchester would probably write a text message as soon as they stopped next just to make sure that Gabriel understood that things weren’t going to go his way all the time.

That Sam didn’t even seem to mind the stupid archangel’s games, was worrying and infuriating at the same time. Dean really didn’t want to have a discussion about how things with Ruby had gone for them, but it looked more and more likely that he’d have to remind his little brother of exactly that. The prospect of a discussion like that alone was enough to ruin the older Winchester’s day.

“You know what? I don’t like talking to you when you’re like that,” Sam replied in a sour tone, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The younger Winchester understood he had messed things up for everyone, that basically everything that was going wrong with the world – at least everything new that was wrong with the world – was his fault. Sam also understood it was incredibly hard for Dean to trust anybody, but he had hoped his older brother had at least a little bit of trust in him left.

“Like what?” the older Winchester frowned. Dean could admit that he had used a bit of a harsh tone with his brother there, but it hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary. Besides, if Sam decided to view another supernatural being - who had given them troubles before - as trustworthy, he really shouldn’t be surprised when the older Winchester gave him grief over it.

“Jumping at my throat for things I never even said,” Sam clarified, huffing out a deep breath to calm himself, before he went on speaking, “You probably don’t even realize you’re doing it anymore.”

The younger Winchester reached for the radio to turn up the volume just a second later. As he had said, Sam really didn’t want to finish the conversation they were having. Most of his brother’s music wasn’t really after the younger Winchester’s taste, but he preferred all of it over having a fight with Dean. They were fighting far too often already.

It was a couple of hours before the brothers were even talking to each other again and then it was about the case they had to solve. By the time they stopped for the night just outside of Housatonic, Massachusetts things between them were mostly back to normal.

“You were right, Sam. I was… a little out of line,” Dean stated awkwardly after they finished their Chinese takeout. His younger brother had been right when he had accused Dean of not even noticing anymore, how quick he was to assume the worst of Sam these days. The older Winchester couldn’t promise that he’d change these things immediately - especially since there was still the problem with the angelic douchebag that unfortunately was closely linked to disapproving of things Sam did or said – but he could try.

“Thanks, Dean,” the younger Winchester replied with a small, but genuine smile. Sam didn’t doubt that there’d be an argument again the moment they finished the case and they would have to decide where to go from there, but at least that moment things between them were okay.


	8. Chapter 8

**7**

 

The older Winchester wasn’t stupid. Something was definitely wrong with Sam. The way his younger brother had acted the past 24 hours was by no means normal and Dean had noticed of course. First of all, Sam had simply disappeared for hours and had had some flimsy excuse about getting dinner when he had shown up again the previous evening. It also wasn’t like his younger brother to let the maid into the room while their weapons were out in the open, forcing them to change motels mid-case. The next morning there had been a few moments when the older Winchester could have sworn that his brother had forgotten everything about the hunt they were on. Then again, Sam had been the one who had uncovered the location of the buried bones in the end. The case had been closed quickly enough after that at least. Maggie Briggs’ ghost was gone and their old babysitter’s family was safe once more.

“I’ve been thinking,” Dean stated when they both had their bacon cheeseburgers in front of them, “We can just pack our stuff and get back to Bobby’s immediately, if that’s what you want.”

To tell the truth, the older Winchester still felt a little guilty about jumping at his brother’s throat over spending Christmas with everyone at Bobby’s, but that wasn’t the only reason why Dean had changed his mind. The suggestion might have come from Gabriel, but hanging out with Bobby over the holidays in the house that was the one place – other than the Impala – that felt like home to them, wasn’t such a horrible idea. As things were, they might not get another year to do it.

“Aw, man, but we’re having fun here!” Sam surprisingly protested, looking at his brother with kicked puppy eyes. Something was different about that particular look on his younger brother’s face, but Dean couldn’t put his finger on it. The older Winchester was too surprised by Sam’s reply to give the matter much thought, though.

“Alright, it’s up to you, Sam,” Dean shrugged, taking a long drink from his beer. The older Winchester was dying to ask what the hell was up with his little brother, but they had had an argument about Dean jumping at his brother’s throat just a day ago. The older Winchester really didn’t want Sam to be mad at him about the same freaking thing again after they had only just reconciled.

“It’s just… we’ve had an awesome day, why not stay and celebrate?” the younger Winchester asked in a hopeful tone, his expression as openly joyful in a way Dean hadn’t seen it in a long time. Actually, the older Winchester had seen that expression a lot only a couple weeks ago, when Sam had been reverted back to his eight year old self and had hung his little heart on the trickster.

“It was a random, D-list ghost hunt. That’s… that's awesome to you now?” Dean huffed. The older Winchester realized that he should have been happy about his brother being more carefree, but Dean had the sinking feeling that his brother’s better mood had less to do with the hunt and more to do with Gabriel.

“Yeah, I mean… don’t you ever feel like nothing you do will ever be good enough? It’s all been decided already, no escaping the big plan,” Sam sighed before the smile that was beginning to unnerve his older brother was back on his face, “But then there was this… and – poof – we rocked it!”

Dean nearly choked on his beer as he listened to his brother talk. The older Winchester didn’t know what exactly Gabriel had given to Sam – there was absolutely no chance that this change of behavior came from a simple talk – but Dean was going to deep fry himself an archangel for it as soon as he got his hands on the trickster.

“Know what? Forget it, Dean, I’m… I’m probably more drunk than I thought. Ha! Shouldn’t have taken that drink while you were off to drain the lizard,” Sam chuckled awkwardly, shrugging for good measure.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Sam?” the older Winchester asked in growing bewilderment. Dammit, whatever Gabriel had done to Sam was bad enough that even in his altered state of mind, his younger brother should have been able to realize that something was off!

“Better than okay, awesome,” the younger Winchester confirmed, finishing his beer before he added, “Actually, I think I’ll go over to the bar for a few.”

“Knock yourself out,” Dean replied, watching his brother go. The older Winchester was going to get to the bottom of this, but he supposed there was no harm in letting Sam have some fun in the meantime.

 

* * *

 

 

The older Winchester was throwing the occasional side-glance toward Sam and the woman he was flirting with by the bar. To tell the truth, Dean often wished that his younger brother would show more interest in the nice and pleasant distractions from their damned lives they lead every day. Seeing Sam flirt as enthusiastically as he did, made Dean uneasy, however.

“What have you done to my brother?” the older Winchester hissed at the archangel, the moment Gabriel materialized on the other side of the booth Dean was sitting in. The little annoyance should better be there to fix whatever he had done to Sammy or the older Winchester would have to make sure that the archangel’s ass got to know Dean’s shoe, intimately.

“What have _you_ done to _my_ brother?” Gabriel shot back, mirroring the older Winchester’s glare, “Castiel has been trying to call you over and over for hours!”

The blue-eyed seraph had called the archangel to let him know that he hadn’t been able to get into contact with the Winchesters. It had been obvious that Castiel was very worried and expecting the worst. Strangely enough,in his frantic state the angel hadn’t thought of simply asking Bobby Singer where exactly the boys had gone, but it had served Gabriel just right to go and investigate what all this was about himself. The archangel had the nagging suspicion that all this had something to do with a text message he had received saying he could take his Christmas plans and shove them up his ass.

“Wait, what?” Dean replied, clearly baffled by what he had just heard. In fact, the older Winchester even forgot for a moment that he was mad at the archangel. However, righteous indignation took over when realization set in that the tables were turned.

“Cassy says that they’re planning something big upstairs. It really shook him when he couldn’t get a hold of you!” Gabriel elaborated, before fixing the older Winchester’s eyes with a soul searching stare that Dean usually associated with Castiel, “I get it, Dean-o, we’re not going to be friends anytime soon, but if you continue to take it out on my little brother-“

The archangel hadn’t expected things with the older Winchester to be smooth sailing. Dean was the brother who held grudges, the one who was dead set on seeing the world in black and white without the grey zones in between and the one who had always been suspicious when it came to Gabriel’s motives. What the archangel hadn’t expected, was that the older Winchester was willing to drag Castiel into a conflict that had nothing to do with the seraph.

“Okay, shut it,” Dean interrupted Gabriel’s little tirade, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

This really wasn’t going to way the older Winchester had expected. Dean had been sure that there’d be an argument the moment Gabriel showed up, he had even been prepared for a shouting match, but it was supposed to be about whatever the angelic douchebag had done to Sammy to change his personality so dramatically. Somehow, Dean was the bad guy in the story all of a sudden and he didn’t like it one little bit, especially because he wasn’t even sure what the archangel was going on about. The older Winchester hadn’t ignored any calls, not from Castiel and not from anybody else.Though, putting a hand to his pocket, his phone wasn’t to be found.

“Where is your brother, anyway?” Gabriel suddenly asked. The archangel had felt the strong need to vent his frustration, but now that he was mostly done with it, he realized that Dean had accused him of doing something to Sam before. That the younger Winchester wasn’t with his brother had enabled Gabriel to have the serious talk he wanted to have with Dean, but it also seemed a little unusual.

Dean’s only response to the question was a loud snort and a nod toward the bar where Sam had been talking to a blonde woman for a couple of minutes already. By the looks of it, the two were getting along well. If the older Winchester hadn’t known his little brother better than that, he would have assumed that they were moments from ending up in some hotel with hourly rates or back at the woman’s home. Dean didn’t get to contemplate the topic any further before Gabriel abruptly stood up, making his way over to the bar. The archangel’s body language said all too clearly that he was pissed off and about to blow up, which was all the reason the older Winchester needed to walk after the shorter, but notoriously vengeful man.

“Crystal, I would love to have the sex with you,” Sam declared just a moment before he got pulled out of his seat roughly, by a guy who looked too small to be able to do so with the ease he did.

“No, he wouldn’t!” Gabriel growled, shooting the woman a glare that made her scramble off her seat and toward the exit of the bar. The archangel got a good grip on Sam’s shoulder, pulling the man closer for a thorough inspection. Gabriel realized that he might look like a jealous and scorned lover to the people around, but that was so far from the truth he didn’t pay the thought any mind.

“What have you done?” the archangel demanded in an icy tone, not releasing the other man, but keeping him at arm’s length. Gabriel really didn’t want to have the human any closer to him than was absolutely necessary that very moment. Not after what he had just discovered.

“Woah, man, I don’t…” Sam tried to reply, before the archangel shook him none too gently. The taller man wondered why none of the other patrons reacted to the scene they were causing, but he supposed that civil courage had never been that great around these parts. He’d have expected Dean to do something about that short man shaking the life out of his brother, though.

“Don’t you dare!” Gabriel rudely interrupted the human’s attempt to defend himself. The archangel wasn’t in the mood to hear any lies out of the mouth of the other man, instead he demanded once more, “What have you done?”

Dean had been watching the scene between his younger brother and the archangel with growing bewilderment. If the older Winchester hadn’t been too perplexed to do anything much, he would have intervened earlier.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dean asked the archangel in a sharp tone, stepping in between his brother and the archangel. The older Winchester had the feeling that there was something about the situation he didn’t understand and someone should better tell him what it was already!

“Are you blind or just fucking stupid?” Gabriel nearly yelled, grabbing Sam by his shoulder and shaking him once more, “This is not your brother!”

The archangel had made sure that the other people around would turn a blind eye to what was going on between the three of them as soon as Crystal had been out of the picture. It wouldn’t do any good to have someone call the police on them or if some well-intended moron thought he had to help the person currently in Sam’s body.

“Dean, I… I don’t know…” the imposer stammered, trying to get the older Winchester to do something about the little maniac. Gary knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince anyone that he was really Sam Winchester for long, but he needed a little more time and right now Dean’s support was the only chance he had to still go through with the plan.

“Good try, you moron,” Gabriel snarled before the older Winchester could say anything, letting enough of his angelic side through his eyes shone golden, “I can see your soul,”

“If… if he’s not Sam, who is he?” Dean asked in a cold tone, ignoring the imposer. The older Winchester really couldn’t stand being played for a sucker and that was exactly what had happened in the past 24 hours. “And where the hell is Sam?”

“We’re going to find out,” Gabriel replied, snapping his fingers to transport them back to the Winchesters’ motel room. Whatever was going to happen, wasn’t something that should be done in public.

“You better tell us everything we want to know, before I show you exactly what happens to people who anger me,” the archangel stated in a fake sweet tone as soon as they had the imposer bound to a chair. It was more for the psychological effect than anything else, Gabriel didn’t sense any kind of power in the other man that would make it possible for him to escape an archangel.

“You… you’re bluffing… you wouldn’t…” Gary stammered, obviously unsure of what he had just said. They wouldn’t do anything to him as long as he was in Sam’s body though, would they?

“Kiddo, I’ve got a million ways to make you wish you were dead without doing any harm to Sam’s body,” Gabriel explained calmly, leaning closer to the taller man and raising his fingers ready to snap before he spoke on, “You can have a demonstration, if you’d like.”

“Don’t look at me, I’d like to see that,” Dean stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest, when the look alike turned his eyes to the older Winchester looking for help. The puppy dog look wasn’t quite as effective, knowing that it wasn’t really Sam who was using it. That at least answered one age old question. It wasn’t only about the puppy dog eyes, it was mostly about his younger brother using them.

“Okay, I’m talking, I’m talking!”


	9. Chapter 9

**8**

 

Sam decided that spending a night and day in a teenager’s body and having to deal with said teenager’s family – especially his parents – may have been bad; not that there had been anything pleasant about that experience, but being sedated and kidnapped by the teenage witch’s friends and ending up bound to a chair in a basement was definitely worse.

Hearing that the teenagers had spoken to demons and were out to kill Dean, because apparently the demons had put out a bounty on the older Winchester’s head definitely took the cake, though. Usually, Sam would have found a way to free himself of the ropes he was bound with and got back to his brother to warn him in a reasonable time, but Gary’s body was by no means made for the kind of escape attempts Sam would normally use. There was little strength in the teenager’s muscles and the younger Winchester simply wasn’t used enough to the body he was trapped in to do anything out of the ordinaryor remotely escape-artist like with it.

The more time Sam spent with Trevor and Nora in the basement, the clearer it became that the teenagers didn’t really know what kind of powers they were messing with, but that didn’t make anything they were doing any better. In fact, it made the situation all the more dangerous. The younger Winchester had tried reasoning with the teenagers and for a moment he had thought he made some progress with the girl at least, but then Trevor had gotten the spell book and prepared the ingredients for a summoning spell.

“Don’t do this. I’m begging you!” Sam tried to convince the teenager to stop once again with growing desperation. The younger Winchester wasn’t completely sure if a demon would recognize him in his altered state, but he ha learned long ago that chances always tended to be against him. It was that Winchester luck.

“You’re gonna get us all killed!” Sam yelled when Trevor didn’t stop chanting in Latin. Unfortunately, the teenager didn’t even get distracted, just continued with the summoning ritual.

It hit Sam like a brick to the head that he hadn’t felt this small and defenseless in a long time, not even when he had been eight years old and completely clueless. There was nothing he could do, being in the wrong body and definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course, back when the younger Winchester had been a little kid, Dean was there to protect him and more importantly, Gabriel had always made sure that they were safe. There was just something about the archangel that made Sam feel protected and cared for. The intensity with which he wished that Gabriel could just pop in to make everything right again, shocked Sam more than the fact he had been taken down by severely awkward and vastly mediocre teenagers.

“Ad ligandum eos pariter eos coram me!“ Trevor finished the summoning, looking around for the demon only to see no obvious change, “Maybe I said it wrong.”

Sam snorted, they should be so lucky! Of course, the teenager had said everything right as they soon realized when Nora’s eyes suddenly turned solid black. The younger Winchester cursed inwardly. He knew that it was better not to draw any attention to him, though. Chances that the demon wouldn’t notice and eventually recognize Sam were slim, but he didn’t have to speed up the process. In the end, it took less than a minute until the demon focused its attention on the younger Winchester.

“So, if Sam’s in this body, who's in Sam’s?“ the demon asked, making the younger Winchester cringe. Lucifer said more than once that he wanted Sam’s full consent and that he knew that Sam was going to give it to him. The younger Winchester had started to believe in the devil’s words over time, but he had to wonder, if somebody else being in Sam’s body was a deal breaker. Maybe Sam should have been relieved that technically all that was Gary’s problem now, but it was still his body they were talking about!

“A dangerous warlock. Named Gary,” Trevor answered confidently, standing his ground even when the demon gave him a soul searching stare. If the teenager could look the bullies at his school in the eye without fear every day, he could do the same with a demon.

“Adding lying to your list of sins now, kid?” Gabriel asked suddenly, “What you meant to say was ‘a very stupid teenager, named Gary’ I’m sure.”

Sam’s head snapped toward the archangel so quick it made him feel dizzy. Not only was Gabriel standing there, Dean was flanking him, keeping a tight grip on Gary to keep the teenager from doing anything spectacularly stupid while he was in Sam’s body. Or rather, to keep the teenager from adding even more to the pile of stupid he had already accumulated.

The demon hissed at the archangel just a moment before Nora’s head snapped back as black smoke poured out of her mouth. To his minor credit, Trevor caught his friend’s body, before she hit the floor.

Gabriel clicked his tongue and raised his hand, making a fist. The gesture was just for show, while his powers kept the demon from leaving the room with just a thought, but a good performance was always half the battle. “You’re going nowhere, smokey.”

The archangel had announced his presence and alliance to his bigger brothers by his actions already, letting a bunch of demons know that the Winchesters were under his protection was hardly a big step after that.

“Let’s talk about somebody putting out a hit on Dean-o’s head,” Gabriel stated in a seemingly casual tone. However, the archangel’s eyes flashed so dangerously, Dean didn’t even roll his eyes at the nickname. Gary told them the entire story about how he and his friends had fooled around with an Ouija board and had heard about the bounty on Dean’s head that way. It was a situation that had to be dealt with before it got out of hand for sure.

“The one reason your ass is going back to hell instead of just“, the archangel made a poofing motion with his free hand, “is that I want you to spread the word that whoever wants to get to either one of those two, will have to go through me first.”

After he finished speaking, Gabriel raised his fist a little further, before he made a motion like he was trying to throw something straight through the floor. In fact, Sam was a little surprised that there was no hole in the ground where the black smoke had disappeared.

Dean was quick to cut through the rope binding his brother to the chair, all the while glaring at Gary who did a good job of looking repentant and miserable. Sam could only guess what his brother and the archangel had threatened to do to the teenager, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel too sorry for the kid that moment.

“You okay, Sammy?” Dean asked, throwing the ropes aside. To say, that looking at the teenager’s body knowing that it was really Sam, was strange; was the understatement of the century. At least, Sam seemed to be unharmed.

“Yeah,” the younger Winchester replied, taking a deep, steadying breath, “Thanks.”

Dean wasn’t going to change his opinion that they could have handled all this on their own anytime soon, but he could admit that having the archangel on their side had come in handy, in this case. Even though it had to be said that the older Winchester would have been suspicious of Gary much sooner, if he hadn’t thought that Gabriel had done something to alter Sam’s personality.

“And now you’ll reverse this!” Dean demanded, glaring at Gary once more. The teenager shouldn’t think that the archangel was the only one around who could be scary as hell, if you got on his wrong side! Besides, Gabriel hadn’t said anything since he had sent the demon back to hell and was only watching Sam and Dean.

“Sure, no problem,” Gary hurried to reply, already reaching for the spell book Trevor had left on the counter earlier, “Was gonna do that, anyway.”

It obviously and understandably made the teenager nervous to work under the critical gaze of two hunters and an archangel – not that Gary knew what exactly Gabriel was – but he set up everything needed to reverse the spell very quickly nonetheless. His two friends did nothing to help, but Nora was still recovering from the demonic possession and Trevor had apparently decided that blending into the background was his best option.

Sam and Gary sat across from each other as the teenager chanted the counter spell and ignited the ingredients in the bowl between them. The moment the worst of the smoke was gone, the younger Winchester immediately looked at his hands and chest, exhaling soundly when he found them to be his own again. Granted, the fact that he was sitting across from Gary and was looking at the teenager’s body that had been his for the day, had been a pretty good clue that everything had gone according to plan.

“Welcome back, Sambo,” Gabriel stated, an honest smile grazing his lips for the first time since he had arrived in the freaking town,a rarity for the normally grinning archangel.

“That was really freaky,” Sam huffed out a laugh. All in all, the incident wasn’t among the top ten worst things that had ever happened to the younger Winchester, but it had been stressful. Especially after the teenagers had revealed that it was their plan to kill Dean! Sam was just glad that it was over.

“Okay, listen up kids,” the older Winchester ordered in a serious tone, taking turns looking at all the teenagers, “You’re all damn lucky that you’re all not old enough to drink yet, ‘cause if you were, we’d kill you for all this witchcraft shit! I’m warning you, because I got a tiny bit of hope that you’re smart enough to leave this crap behind you and stay on the right path from now on, if you don’t, we’ll come back and you’ll end up dead.”

Gary, Nora and Trevor had the good sense to look chastised and remorseful. That moment, it seemed believable that they’d stay away from all things demonic and witchy in the future. That was good enough for the Winchesters, but apparently the archangel had different ideas.

“I’m afraid, I’m not as nice as Dean-o here,” Gabriel commented, noticing with some satisfaction how the juvenile delinquents flinched. Handing out just desserts and teaching stupid humans a lesson was what the archangel had done for ages, he had something special in mind for those three. Gabriel raised his hand and snapped his fingers before either one of the Winchesters could say anything or stop him. “Just a little something to remind you all to be good.”

The three teenagers looked each other up and down panicky, while the Winchesters looked at each other awkwardly. Of course, Gabriel had disappeared right after he had pulled his little stunt, so the brothers couldn’t even tell him to take whatever punishment he had just given to the kids back. Then again, everyone was alive and nobody was in pain, so whatever it was probably wasn’t that bad. There was a tiny sliver of hope that it wasn’t really that bad, anyway.

The Winchesters were well on their way out of town soon afterward. There was no reason to stick around any longer and after everything that had happened, they were both glad to leave.

“I’m glad to be back,” Sam sighed contently, making himself comfortable in the Impala. In a way, being forced to be someone else for a while had shown the younger Winchester how much he appreciated some things in his own life. Sure, they had problems of apocalyptic proportions – literally – but they also had each other. Not to mention their small, but good network of expanded family and friends.

“Yeah?” Dean grinned slightly, nudging his little brother with his elbow just as they left the town for good.

“Yeah,” Sam confirmed, giving his brother a smile, “I kinda forgot how much it sucks to be a teenager.”

Of course, their teenage years had been completely different to Gary’s, but some things were eerily similar. Sure, their father had never tried to force Sam into an academic career he didn’t want – actually, Sam might have been happy if John Winchester had wanted his son to study at all costs – but being pressured into something you didn’t want to do with your life sucked, regardless of what path your father had in mind for you.

Dean laughed, before a thought he just had to voice hit him. “Hey Sammy, if somebody turns you into a baby before New Year’s you’ll have gone through all stages of your life again this year.”

His younger brother had already been a kid and a teenager that year, adding a couple days as a baby to the mix would mean that Sam had gone through most of the major stages he had already gone through in his life once again. Dean was all too happy to ignore that he himself had been a pre-teen and an old man that year alone, though.

“Ha ha,” the younger Winchester huffed, not gracing his brother’s stupid joke with a real answer.

“What do you say, we get back to Bobby’s for Christmas?” Dean asked a couple of minutes later. They were already driving in the general direction of South Dakota, but the older Winchester realized that he had never gotten around to telling Sam that he had changed his mind about the entire Christmas business.

“Really, Dean?” the younger Winchester replied in a tone that did nothing to mask how much he wanted to believe that his brother had just made a genuine offer. Last thing Sam knew, Dean really didn’t want to follow Gabriel’s invitation. Then again, the younger Winchester hadn’t been around for over a day.

“So? I changed my mind about that,” Dean shrugged, throwing a side glance at his brother, “Might be nice and we can introduce Cas to eggnog.”

The thought of getting Castiel to partake in some Christmas traditions made Sam smile. “Sounds good.”

“Awesome,” Dean grinned, turning up his music as they continued to drive. They’d have to stop for the night soon and maybe once more before they got to Bobby’s, if they wanted to get just some basic Christmas shopping in, but they’d easily make it before Christmas Eve.

Later that night, Dean was taking a shower when Sam decided to follow a sudden impulse and grabbed his cell phone to type a message to Gabriel. “What did you do to those kids?”

The younger Winchester didn’t have to wait too long for the answer. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Sam typed his reply, because that was pretty damn hard to believe knowing the trickster and Gabriel might as well know, that he didn’t take his every word at face value.

Reading the message the archangel sent next made the younger Winchester laugh out loud despite himself. It was cruel in a way, but nowhere near any of the unpleasant things Sam had feared Gabriel might have bestowed upon the teenagers. “Nothing, but it’ll be a while before they figure that out.”


	10. Chapter 10

**9**

 

In the end, the drive back to Bobby’s took the Winchesters nearly two days instead of the one day it should have taken. Sam was far from complaining, though. First of all, they still made it back to South Dakota on December 23rd and then there was the reason for their delay. Without losing a word about it, Dean had decided that they had to make a pit stop at a mall. At first, the younger Winchester had been sure that they only were there for lunch at some fast food joint, but then his brother had hinted toward getting a new trucker hat for Bobby while they were there already.

It had been a couple of hours before Sam and Dean left the mall again. They hadn’t bought much, but the older Winchester had tried a lot of things before he had settled for a present for Castiel and his younger brother had had similar troubles choosing something for Gabriel. Not to mention that this close to Christmas there were way too many people out shopping. All in all, their little trip to the mall had been successful and nice, even though it forced them to stop for the night once more before they could reach their destination.

When they had finally arrived in Sioux Falls they had taken some time to explain everything that had happened in the past days – minus their little shopping spree – to Bobby. The older hunter wasn’t sure if it would ever be useful, but he wrote down everything the brothers told him about the soul swapping ritual just in case.

Gabriel joined them on the 24th, visibly pleased that Bobby had made sure that there was a decent sized Christmas tree. The archangel was determined to give Sam the nice family holiday the child in him was obviously hoping for no matter what the others thought about it, but the oldest hunter’s cooperation sure helped. As a sign of goodwill, Gabriel left the decorating to the hunters. A little later, the archangel took his chance when Castiel appeared, to get away from the group and disappear into the dining room of the house.

“I’ll be damned,” Bobby muttered, when he caught the first glimpse of his dining table. Sure, the archangel had said that he was going to prepare their Christmas dinner and Bobby had fully expected Gabriel to go overboard with whatever it was he had planned, but this was ridiculous, even considering the angel’s second identity as a tricksterand it was only Christmas-eve.

“I said I’d take care of the food and drinks,” Gabriel shrugged casually, but his eyes sparkled with glee. The stunned expressions all the hunters had was exactly what the archangel had wanted to achieve when he had made all the foods he thought the humans would appreciate appear on Bobby’s dinner table.

“How many people did you invite?” Dean asked sarcastically. The moment the older Winchester finished his question though, he began to wonder if the archangel really had invited other people or beings to their Christmas celebration. Dean wouldn’t have put it past Gabriel to do exactly that. Apparently, Bobby was following the same train of thought, because the older hunter looked suspicious of the possibility as well.

“Who do you think I would invite?” Gabriel replied with a raised eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure that most of my friends want my head on a plate now that I’ve come out as an archangel.”

To be fair, a couple of Loki’s so called friends might have stabbed him in the back the first chance they got even before he had revealed his true identity. Not that he had ever gone back to Asgard to let the other Norse gods know what was going on, but lately Gabriel had caused ripples in the pond that were too big for anyone to ignore. A part of the archangel was sorry to let that part of his life go, but he was on a mission and that mission was more important to him than anything else.

“I’d rather not tempt fate more than necessary,” Gabriel added, using an upbeat tone despite the topic he was speaking about to make the transition back to the holiday spirited conversation, “Not that they’d be able to kill me, but I’m not that hard to hurt.”

Sam frowned slightly, but he understood that the archangel didn’t want to discuss the topic further, at least not that moment and with everyone around. Maybe there would be a good time later to ask Gabriel about the surrogate family he had left, by deciding to side with them.

“That so?” Dean asked with a slight smirk, before he could stop himself. The snide question had been uncalled for and the older Winchester realized it, but there was no taking it back now that he had said it.

“Dean,” Sam hissed, nudging his older brother with his elbow none too gently for his stupid joke. Furthermore, the younger Winchester didn’t know how to feel knowing that they had hurt Gabriel before. Granted, the archangel had done all sorts of things to them too, but he obviously wanted to make it up to them now, so Sam thought feeling a little bad about the staking wasn’t out of place.

“Okay, okay, Christmas spirit,” Dean replied with an apologetic shrug. The older Winchester directed his attention back to the dinner table and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “C’mon Cas, let’s find out what you like.”

“I don’t require…” Castiel began to protest, but he never got to finish his statement before the older Winchester took a firm hold of his shoulder and dragged him to the dinner table. It wasn’t that the food didn’t look good to the angel -the smell alone had Jimmy’s mouth salivating- he simply didn’t see the point in spending time and energy eating when he didn’t have to.

“This is not about requiring anything, it’s about stuff being tasty,” Dean explained, nodding satisfied when the blue-eyed angel took a seat next to him. The older Winchester knew that Castiel wasn’t completely opposed to eating and this was the perfect opportunity to test what kind of food made the angel’s heart beat faster.

“Remind me never to let you decorate,” Bobby scratched the side of his head as he took his place at the table, “You’d probably make the house visible from space.”

Of course, it made sense that a pagan god and archangel would enjoy opulence and Bobby could imagine worse than having the equivalent of a five star dinner for a group of at least twelve on his table, but the thought of what Gabriel might think were appropriate decorations for the house as a whole made the oldest hunter shudder. Though, the mental picture of every single car in the scrap yard along with the house being covered in fairy lights was mildly amusing as long as it stayed hypothetical.

“I’ll let you know that I have excellent taste when it comes to interior and exterior design, old man,” Gabriel stated in a lecturing tone, though the small mischievous smirk on his face spoke of a different intent than his words had. The archangel happily noticed that Sam had chosen to sit next to him. Granted, the younger Winchester only had the choice to sit between Dean and Gabriel or Bobby and Castiel, but he had still chosen the first.

“There’s an empty chair with your name on it, boy,” the oldest hunter finally addressed Tarot, who was standing by the door awkwardly. The angel flinched slightly, which had to be expected with him, but approached them just a few moments later to sit next to Bobby and Castiel.

Tarot relaxed gradually when everyone carried on as before, not paying much attention to him or the fact that he was just sitting there with his hands on his thighs. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the people he was with, it wasn’t even that he didn’t trust them, but people made him uncomfortable no matter who they were. The new ones Tarot met every now and then when somebody visited Bobby were obviously the worst, but the angel simply couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling even around those he saw regularly and especially around his own brothers.

“A toast,” Dean suddenly announced, causing most of the people around to stare at him in varying degrees of disbelief, “To Sammy, Bobby and Cas, if you gotta be in deep shit, it’s better to be in with you guys than anybody else. To Tarot… uh… good coffee, dude. And to Gabriel, I hope there’s pie later.”

Despite himself, Sam had to laugh at that.

 

* * *

 

 

As a matter of fact, there was pie after dinner, though Sam wasn’t sure how Dean managed to eat any of it after stuffing his face like he had at the main course.

Tarot had retreated into the corner of the living room where he kept his clock parts after he had made sure that everyone had fresh coffee. Sam wished that the sandy-haired seraph would have appreciated his company while he, Bobby and Castiel were waiting for Dean and Gabriel to finish their argument over the better Christmas movie. Of the two, helping repair clocks seemed like the more enjoyable option. The older Winchester insisted that they should watch ‘Die Hard’ while Gabriel preferred ‘Home Alone’. Castiel had no opinion on the topic for obvious reasons and both Bobby and Sam refused to side with anybody in the matter.

In the end, the oldest hunter was the one who grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on, determined to find a suitable third option. To his credit, Gabriel did nothing to make sure that all channels only showed ‘Home Alone’. The thought had crossed the archangel’s mind, but while he enjoyed having that little argument with Dean, he didn’t want to turn it into anything more than a harmless squabble.

“There,” Bobby stated, keeping a tight grip on the remote control, just in case, “Now sit down and shut up you two!”

Sam would have preferred ‘Die Hard’ over ‘Batman Returns’ any day, but the younger Winchester knew better than to comment on that when both Dean and Gabriel seemed happy enough with the choice Bobby had made. It wasn’t a half bad movie, anyway.

“Idjits,” the oldest hunter muttered under his breath when the older Winchester threw one more glare toward the archangel. Gabriel had chosen to sit on the armrest of the couch next to Sam to Dean’s great annoyance. At least, the glaring stopped as soon as the movie was in full swing.

The younger Winchester couldn’t say that he minded being that close to the archangel. In a way, it was even comforting. Sam vaguely remembered calling Gabriel ‘larger than life’ when he had been drugged, but he had to admit that’s exactly what the archangel was to him. Despite his vessel’s size, the archangel’s presence was nearly overwhelming at times, especially when he really got emotional over something. It was a pretty good feeling to know that making sure Sam and Dean were protected was one of the things Gabriel got emotional over. It had done all sorts of funny things to the younger Winchester’s insides when the archangel had proclaimed to that demon and the teenage witches that everyone wanting to get to them had to go through him first. If Dean ever found out there would be hell to pay, Sam was sure.

However, Gabriel didn’t need to use big gestures like that to make the younger Winchester feel better than he had in quite some time. The shorter man only being there, close to Sam, made him feel safe already.

The younger Winchester had to say he also really appreciated the comments Gabriel kept whispering to him throughout the movie. Before the end credits rolled, Sam had learned that the archangel found Christopher Walken to be creepy, liked seeing Danny DeVito in movies for the man’s acting abilities - but also because he was nearly a head shorter than Gabriel’s vessel - loved penguins and had the highest respect for the pains Michelle Pfeiffer went through with her Catwoman costume.

Castiel, on the other hand, seemed confused by the movie more than anything else. The more often Dean told the seraph to just go with it, the deeper Castiel’s frown got.

“I seem to lack the socio-cultural background to appreciate this movie,” the blue-eyed angel concluded. The others obviously knew more about the characters than was shown in the movie, a knowledge Castiel lacked.

“Wait, are you saying you didn’t like it?” Dean asked incredulously, looking at his friend like the angel had just told him something outrageous.

“I am saying I did not understand it well enough to like or dislike it,” Castiel clarified, hoping that he had given a satisfactory answer to the older Winchester’s question. The angel did not completely understand the significance of them celebrating Christmas either, but he knew that it was important to everyone around in their own way and he didn’t want to disturb the festivities.

“Okay, Cas, that’s unacceptable,” Dean stated with a groan, “We need to watch that again.”

Hell, Sammy didn’t like half the movies that his older brother did and that was okay, so Castiel disliking the movie would have been one thing, but not having an opinion at all was something else entirely. The older Winchester was going to make sure that Castiel made up his mind and if they had to wait for the rerun of the movie later that night or some time the next day, they would.

“Good luck with the cultural education, Dean-o,” Gabriel laughed, snapping his fingers to produce a DVD of ‘Batman Returns’ out of thin air and passed it on to the older Winchester. If Dean wanted to actually spend more time with Castiel – which probably was the best Christmas present his little brother could get – Gabriel was going to support that.

Bobby shook his head slightly and got up to go to bed. The oldest hunter might have been the one to choose the movie, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to see it twice in a row.Christmas was going to be a long day anyway, if the evening they had had was any indication.

Sam stayed for another couple of minutes, listening to the short history of Batman his older brother gave to Castiel while the seraph hung on his every word. The younger Winchester quickly began to feel like he was intruding and decided to get some shut-eye himself. It helped that Gabriel had scurried off somewhere earlier, so Sam didn’t have to worry about the archangel purposely annoying Dean just because he could the moment he wasn’t there to witness it anymore.

“Rule of cool, Cas, always keep that in mind,” the older Winchester was explaining just before his brother left the room. What Sam didn’t know was that Gabriel had been waiting for exactly that moment.


	11. Chapter 11

**10**

 

“I’ve got something for you,” Gabriel stated in a conspiratorial whisper, grabbing Sam’s hand before the younger Winchester could go upstairs to the guest room and pulled him toward Bobby’s study instead.

Sam nodded and followed the archangel without saying a word. It was obvious Gabriel didn’t want to draw any attention to them and hoped to get some alone time with the younger Winchester. Sam wasn’t going to complain about that. In fact, it was only fair that he got to spend some time with his angel friend, with Dean watching ‘Batman Returns’ with Castiel.

The younger Winchester wasn’t sure what he had expected, but he definitely was surprised when Gabriel just grinned at him and put a small, gift wrapped box in his hand. Sam couldn’t help smiling, not so much because of the present he had received, but because he knew that kind of grin on the archangel’s face. It was both contagious and exactly the way Gabriel had grinned a the younger Winchester every time he came up with something new and wonderful for them to do while the brothers had been children in his care.

Once Sam had opened the box, he saw a rounded, silver amulet with a mixture of sigils and runes on it, as far as the younger Winchester could tell at least. Sam didn’t know what most of the symbols meant, but he was sure that they held power. The younger Winchester gingerly ran his fingers over the amulet. He might have imagined it, but the material became much warmer to the touch than could be explained away from Sam’s own body heat.

“As long as you have the amulet with you, I can track you anywhere,” Gabriel explained after giving the taller man some time to inspect his present, “You can also get messages to me through it.”

As good as it was that Castiel had warded the Winchesters against being just found by any angel in existence, it also made finding them in case of emergency harder than it should be. Granted, it hadn’t taken Gabriel that long to locate Sam and Dean before, but Bobby had known where they had wanted to go and they hadn’t been hidden away by some supernatural being then. The archangel had just had to find the Impala and then check out the bars and diners closest to the motel parking lot in which he had found the car. To put it simply, that time he got lucky and that was a chance he wasn’t willing to take again.

“How… how does that work?” Sam asked, tearing his eyes away from his present in favor of looking back at the archangel. Gabriel seemed very pleased with himself, so much that the younger Winchester couldn’t find it in himself to worry that the gift might turn out to be a curse. The archangel hadn’t given Sam a reason to think that he didn’t have his best interest in mind since they had gotten to know each other better. The younger Winchester trusted Gabriel.

“I’ve got the other one,” the archangel answered, pulling on the thin silver chain he wore around his neck until the twin amulet became visible, “Think of it like a tin can phone. Only less tins, no strings attached and you don’t need to talk into it. So not really like a tin can phone at all.”

What Gabriel didn’t say was that the symbols he had used worked the kind of magic that was going to establish a connected from soul to grace with a little detour over Sam’s will to share what was going on with the archangel. Gabriel had the nagging feeling that the younger Winchester might take it the completely wrong way if he told him how the amulet really worked. The archangel didn’t want to make the hunter think that he was signing up for something more than the friendship they shared by accepting the present.

“Is that your way of saying that I’ll have to figure it out by myself?” Sam inquired in a slightly amused tone. The younger Winchester didn’t think that the archangel had meant to confuse him as badly as he had with the strange analogy even when he then dismissed it just a moment later.

“It’s not that complicated,” Gabriel promised, trying to come up with a better way to explain these things to Sam, “Basically, as long as you keep the amulet on your person, I’ll hear anything you want me to hearand nothing you don’t. Of course, it’s your choice when and if you take it with you.”

The younger Winchester looked at the amulet with big eyes, finally taking it out of the box and holding it in his palm. Maybe the hunter in Sam should have worried about it, but holding the thing felt right, like he was supposed to have it. Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment, the younger Winchester closed his hand, squeezing the amulet slightly while he tried to think of how much he wanted Gabriel to know that he was very grateful for the present.

“Well done, Sambo,” the archangel chuckled a moment later, “I’m glad you like it.”

The younger Winchester looked stunned for a moment before he put the amulet back into the box, ducking his head. Of course, the thing had done exactly what Gabriel had said it would. Sam hadn’t honestly doubted that it would, but now that he had tested it, the realization of how precious the gift he had received really was hit him full force.

“Why…?” Sam swallowed hard before he continued speaking, “Why would you give me something like that?”

As much as the younger Winchester trusted the archangel, he had a hard time believing that he deserved a present like that. It seemed too precious and too sacred for the boy with the demon blood to have. On some level Sam understood that wasn’t how Gabriel saw him, but that fact alone was already more than the younger Winchester could have hoped for.

“Short answer, I want you to have it,” the archangel stated in a definite voice, taking the amulet out of the box and placing it in Sam’s palm again. Gabriel understood that the taller man was suffering from the inferiority complex of the century – not that it came out of thin air – so he thought that clear words and actions were needed. “How often do I have to tell you that you’re my favorite before you believe it, Sam?”

The younger Winchester would have liked nothing better than to believe in the archangel’s words, but a very hard to silence part of his mind kept protesting against the idea that any angel could look at him and not see how tainted he was. In a way, it was even harder to silence that nagging voice when it came to Gabriel, who had become Sam’s personal hero and savior some time ago.

“Yeah, right,” Sam huffed, “Seriously, why me, Gabriel? Dean is…”

The younger Winchester never got to finish his statement, before the archangel grabbed his hand and gave him one of his soul-searching stares that never failed to make Sam feel like he was eight years old again.

“Sambo, if you say that Dean’s the one everyone likes better, I’ll have to bend you over my knee,” Gabriel stated in a hard tone. Subtlety wasn’t going to get him anywhere with someone as self-depreciating as Sam was. It was actually quite impressive how someone as tall as the younger Winchester could make himself look so small, belittling himself in some way every other minute. However, the archangel was determined to get Sam to quit that stupid habit.

“You’re so much more than the sum of your mistakes and it’s about time you start to see that too, munchkin,” Gabriel added in a much softer tone, leaning toward the younger Winchester. He reached for Sam’s face to brush a stray strand of hair out of the way.

For a moment, Sam was sure that the archangel was about to kiss him, but then Gabriel just gave him a fond smile and leaned back again. In all honesty, the younger Winchester wasn’t sure how he felt about that. The archangel undeniably had found a place in Sam’s heart, but the hunter hadn’t given much thought to the nature of his feelings for the smaller man. Once the mental picture of Gabriel’s lips pressed against his own had taken hold in Sam’s mind, it was impossible to get rid of it again and while it was surprising and a little awkward, it also gave the younger Winchester a warm, fuzzy feeling.

“One more thing,” Gabriel’s voice broke through Sam’s quiet considerations, “This is an encrypted, private line, just between you and me, but if you ever get in trouble like you did with those stupid teenagers again, I want you to pray to me.”

The younger Winchester shook his head slightly to get his focus back to the topic at hand. It was only then he noticed that he had been clutching the amulet the entire time. Sam was only glad that the thoughts he had had weren’t of the kind he would – even subconsciously – want to share with Gabriel, so the archangel should be blissfully unaware of the pictures going through the hunter’s mind. The younger Winchester was sure that the archangel would have given him some sign, if he had picked up on any of those thoughts.

“Pray to you?” Sam asked, with a frown. The younger Winchester had been praying to God and his angels for the biggest part of his life –a fact the archangel should be aware of, due to a talk he had had with eight year old Sammy– but he had stopped after Dean had gone to hell. If neither God nor any angel cared enough to keep that from happening, they wouldn’t care about anything else concerning Sam either. Then of course his older brother had returned and it had turned out that angels were all too real, but every single one of them they had met had viewed the younger Winchester as unworthy and tainted. They had been right, of course they had, but what was the point in praying to beings that hated your guts at worst and hardly tolerated you at best? Not to mention that the belief that Sam had no right to pray anyway had taken hold in the younger Winchester’s mind.After all the things he had done, what right did he have to ask for help?

“You know the drill ‘Oh wonderful, almighty archangel Gabriel, please hear my prayer’ will do,” Gabriel explained jokingly before he got serious again, “I can’t guarantee that my brothers don’t have a way to pick up on stuff like that, so we better only use that in case of emergency.”

Sam nodded, without saying a word. If Gabriel said that the younger Winchester should pray to him in case of emergency, then Sam would do his very best to remember that. A fairly big part of the hunter was giddy with the knowledge that Gabriel wanted him to always have a way to contact him. Sam was trying hard not to let it show, though. Apparently it was working, because the archangel took the taller man’s silence to mean something else entirely.

“You said you used to pray to me when you were a kid. I’m sorry I didn’t listen then,” Gabriel apologized, fixing his golden eyes on Sam’s green ones to make sure the hunter understood how serious he was about his apology and especially about the promise he was about to make, “But I will listen now.”

The younger Winchester nodded slightly, giving the archangel a dimpled smile and that was everything Gabriel wanted for Christmas.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that night, after both Winchesters had gone to bed and the angels were the only ones still awake, Gabriel went back to the living room to speak to his dark-haired brother. There was something the archangel had been working on in the past few days and he could use some help putting his newest plan into action.

“I need your opinion on this, Cassy,” Gabriel announced, handing a few sheets of paper with a neatly written list of names to Castiel, “We need an inside man. I wrote down the names of all our brothers and sisters I used to get along with well, but I haven’t been home in a very long time. I was hoping you could help me narrow down the list.”

It wasn’t that the archangel wouldn’t have liked to hear Tarot’s opinion in addition to Castiel’s, but as terrified of everyone as the sandy-haired seraph was, it was highly doubtful that there was anybody he would react positively to anymore. Besides, Gabriel didn’t want to involve Tarot in on the plotting. The archangel was sure it would put too much pressure on his little brother.

“Balthazar,” Castiel stated decisively, as soon as he spotted the seraph’s name on the archangel’s list. The blue-eyed angel wasn’t too sure about the true alliance of most of the brothers and sisters Gabriel had listed, but he knew exactly where Balthazar stood in all this.

“Are you sure?” Gabriel asked, looking thoughtful. Castiel’s pick wasn’t the archangel’s first choice, but he trusted that his dark-haired brother had his reasons for picking Balthazar, especially since Castiel obviously hadn’t had to think about it for long. Besides, Gabriel had already admitted that he hadn’t been in heaven for a very long time. A lot of things were bound to have changed since he had last seen most of his family. Not to mention that Gabriel didn’t know how many of those who had been on his side back in the day, viewed him as the worst kind of traitor for leaving.

“I am certain,” Castiel confirmed with a definite nod, “Balthazar is the best choice. I trust him.”

As infuriating as Balthazar’s tendency to care for his own agendas first was at times, it also meant that he was one of the few angels who had practice thinking and making decisions for themselves, which gave him reason to believe in their cause. The only reason the seraph had gotten away with that kind of behavior, was that hardly anyone knew that Balthazar had mastered the art of finding loop holes and obeying without obedience, always treading the fine line between insubordination and subordination.

“Alright, that’s good enough for me.”


	12. Chapter 12

**11**

 

Sam spent a good part of the night tossing and turning. The younger Winchester was lucky that his brother had never come upstairs to occupy the second bed in Bobby’s guest room. Sam was sure that Dean would have asked about his sleeplessness. Not that either one of them needed a reason for having a bad night. A hunter’s life didn’t exactly bring nice dreams or regular sleep patterns.

However, that night Sam had been unable to rest because his thoughts kept going in circles never coming to any kind of resolution. It wasn’t so much that the younger Winchester suddenly found himself attracted to another man - he was strangely okay with that – it was much more about developing feelings for someone who Sam looked up to before and who probably thought of him as nothing more than a friend. It hadn’t helped any that the younger Winchester’s thoughts had strayed to his early Stanford days and his first meeting with Jessica in a while.

Sam couldn’t help wondering what Jessica would think of him, if she could see him now. She had died years ago, but the younger Winchester still felt like he was cheating on Jess every time he developed romantic feelings for anybody who wasn’t her. Unsurprisingly, it had been a long time before Sam had fallen asleep that night and then he had dreams that weren’t exactly nightmares, but certainly were weird.

The younger Winchester yawned and stretched before he entered the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. It was time to ban all those thoughts from his mind. It was Christmas and they were going to spend it as a family, no time for feeling melancholic.

“I was right about Batman, wasn’t I? C’mon, Cas, trust me a little,” Dean stated in an animated tone just as Sam walked in, “Oh hey, morning Sammy.”

The younger Winchester only had a moment to wonder what his brother was trying to sell to the seraph before Dean reached for a glass of eggnog and handed it to a bewildered looking Castiel. To uphold human custom the angel had dutifully tried some of the things Gabriel had conjured up for dinner the previous day and found most of them to be pleasant enough, but he hadn’t planned to repeat the experience quiet this soon. Castiel did not voice that particular thought because he already knew that Dean would only point out that eggnog was a liquid and thus didn’t count as eating again.

“Eggnog for breakfast?” Sam inquired with a crooked smile and a raised brow when his older brother handed him a glass too. The younger Winchester couldn’t help wondering where Tarot was. Sam preferred a cup of strong coffee over eggnog any day, but especially that day with the night he had.

“What? It’s Christmas!” Dean pointed out like it should have been obvious that eggnog for breakfast would be a part of the day, “Special Winchester recipe.”

Sam frowned. The grin that adorned his older brother’s face couldn’t possibly mean anything good. Then again, Castiel had already emptied more than half of his glass and looked satisfied. The younger Winchester blinked a couple of times and considered pinching himself to make sure he wasn’t still dreaming when the blue-eyed angel asked for a second glass.

“There’s a special Winchester recipe?” Sam asked, still looking at Castiel a little bewildered.

“You should know,” Dean clicked his tongue, shaking his head in mock disappointment, “You were the one who came up with it.”

The younger Winchester couldn’t remember anything about coming up with a recipe for eggnog. Hell, he didn’t even like the stuff, hadn’t drunken any in years. On second thought, that wasn’t completely true, Sam had bought eggnog for Dean the Christmas before his brother’s deal expired. A quick sniff confirmed the mixture was eggnog with strong alcohol until most of the eggnog taste was gone, was what Dean had dubbed the ‘special Winchester recipe’.

At least Castiel seemed to like the concoction. The angel was on his fourth glass before the three of them left the kitchen to join Bobby in the living room. The oldest hunter was wrestling with a couple fairy lights he had found in the shack. After the previous evening had gone well enough, Bobby had gotten into the Christmas spirit enough to want lights on the tree in addition to the old wooden ornaments he had put up the day before.

Tarot was sitting next to the couch on the floor, watching Bobby work. Sam had long since gotten used to the seraph wearing some of the younger Winchester’s old clothes Bobby had lying around, but it still was strange how some days the grey hoodie only looked just a little too big for the six foot tall angel while other days it looked like it was swallowing him whole. Sam thought it had something to do with the way Tarot held himself on any given day. Luckily, that day was one of the days when the seraph looked almost normal, like he didn’t flinch as much whenever someone looked at him for longer than a moment at a time.

“When’s Mr. Douche going to show up?” Dean suddenly asked, bringing his younger brother out of his thoughts with it, “I got him a last minute gift.”

“Dean, you realize that a circle of holy fire or a banishing sigil is not a present,” Sam groaned. The younger Winchester didn’t think that his brother would go that far, especially since the other two angels present would be affected by a banishing sigil as well, but it never hurt to make sure. Sam had to admit that Dean’s question, while worded hostile, had a playful quality to it that made the younger Winchester hope that his brother was slowly getting used having the archangel around.

“What do you think of me?” Dean huffed in righteous indignation, “I got him something to show exactly how much I appreciate him.”

The grin on the older Winchester’s face wasn’t exactly reassuring, but Sam didn’t get the time to question it any further before Gabriel appeared next to them. Out of everyone present, the archangel was the only one who had changed his usual attire to fit the occasion. There was only one day a year when wearing the kind of flamboyant and ugly sweaters that came with big cartoony elves on them was acceptable after all.

“Morning kiddos,” Gabriel greeted the assembled group in an upbeat tone, “Hope you weren’t waiting for me too long.”

The archangel didn’t wait for an answer before he snapped his fingers. There had been a couple of presents under the tree before, but the small pile had become noticeably bigger. Gabriel wasn’t going to let the chance to give everyone a little something pass. They had hard times behind and ahead of them, so they really should take any opportunity to have a good day when they could get it.

Unnoticed by everyone, Castiel had gotten himself another refill of eggnog. The seraph couldn’t say why exactly the drink agreed with him, but it was the first thing he had ingested since coming to Earth that he wanted to have more of.

“How about a song before we get to the presents?” Gabriel suggested with a grin. His suggestion was met with little enthusiasm, though. Not that the archangel had expected anything else. Maybe the hunters would change their minds once they had a bit more liquid courage in their systems, but even then it was doubtable.

“Yeah, Cas, why don’t you let us hear what the heavenly choir taught you?” Dean asked in a clearly faked, innocent tone. The blue-eyed seraph still obviously hadn’t learned enough about the nuances of human speech and how they could influence the meaning of the used words to understand that the question didn’t call for a serious answer.

“I am a warrior, Dean,” Castiel explained, “I have never been part of the choir.”

Dean blinked a couple of times, considering what his friend had just told him. They had gotten to know a couple of angels in the past two years, but the older Winchester couldn’t imagine any of them singing the kind of songs you might hear in a church, in their pastime. “Wait, are you saying there actually is something like a heavenly choir?”

“Of course, Dean-o,” Gabriel answered instead of his younger brother, “You should hear their rendition of ‘stairway to heaven’.”

In all honesty, the archangel hadn’t heard any of his brothers and sisters sing in ages, so he didn’t know if they had ever expanded their repertoire to include songs that weren’t in Enochian. It looked like Castiel thought about correcting what his older brother had said, but before the seraph could open his mouth, Gabriel decided that they had spent enough time talking about choirs.

“C’mon, guys, it’s been Christmas morning for,” the archangel started, taking a short break to check the clock on the wall, “More than nine hours. Time for presents!”

Nobody objected the suggestion.

“Sambo, I know how much you like normal things,” Gabriel announced, handing one of the gifts to the younger Winchester. Of course, Sam had already gotten his present the night before, but the archangel didn’t want to advertise that fact. It was up to the hunter if and when he wanted to tell his brother or anybody else about the amulet. Gabriel watched as the younger Winchester unwrapped the red sweater with the huge reindeer on it the archangel had gotten him. “Nothing more normal than getting an ugly ass sweater for Christmas.”

Before Sam could say anything, Gabriel snapped his fingers. The younger Winchester was holding his own red plaid shirt in his hands all of a sudden and was wearing the sweater instead. The blue tie with yellow ducks on it Gabriel handed to Castiel, counted as one of those ugly things everyone should have gotten for Christmas at least once in their life too.

“Dean-o, I know that there are two things other than your car that make your heart beat faster, so I got you both,” the archangel announced next, handing a medium sized box to the older Winchester, “It’s a bacon cheeseburger pie.”

Dean looked at the pie in his hands as if he couldn’t decide if it was the greatest creation or the greatest blasphemy ever. It smelled pretty damn good, that was for sure. The older Winchester took a chance while Gabriel was handing a professional clock repair set to Tarot and an ancient looking book to Bobby, to break a little piece off the pie crust to get a taste. If the whole thing tasted as good as the crust did, Dean might have to give the archangel a few sympathy points.

The older Winchester didn’t say anything as he handed a gift wrapped in an old newspaper over to Gabriel. The content should speak for itself.

“How did you know?” the archangel asked in a faked touched tone, holding the bag of sugar he had uncovered to his chest like it was a teddy bear. Gabriel had to give it to Dean, he had made a decent joke out of the gift and the trickster could always appreciate that.

The older Winchester left it to his brother to distribute the watch they had bought for Tarot and the new trucker’s cap they had chosen for Bobby and grabbed the gift he had gotten for Castiel instead.

“I… don’t understand,” the blue-eyed seraph admitted once he had opened the present. It was a miniature car that also came with a remote control. Castiel didn’t think he would ever wear the tie his older brother had given to him, but he knew what its purpose was in theory.

“Cas, I was right about Batman and the eggnog,” Dean replied in a lecturing tone, “Just trust me on this.”

To tell the truth, the older Winchester wasn’t completely sure that Castiel would appreciate the remote controlled car half as much as Dean himself did, but he was confident that they were going to have some fun with it anyway. Besides, everyone should get a remote controlled car at least once in their life!

As it turned out, Bobby had decided to give both Winchesters money instead of buying a present. It was something they always could use. Besides, Bobby knew that Sam had his eyes on a new laptop for a while and Dean was thinking about working on some minor problems with the Impala, when he wasn’t thinking about the Apocalypse. The oldest hunter had also found a few more broken watches for his house guest. On a whim, Bobby had also added the old coffee machine he had found again recently. Tarot hadn’t shown any interest in repairing anything that wasn’t a clock or watch, but he might want to expand his repair business some day.

“You… uh… you were watching cooking shows when… so I thought you might like it,” Sam explained when Gabriel unwrapped the last gift under the tree. The younger Winchester had chosen to get the archangel a cookbook that focused on desserts. It wasn’t easy to buy something for someone who could just snap and make everything he might ever want appear. The bright smile Gabriel gave Sam let him know without a doubt that he had made the right choice.

In fact, as they were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and eggnog, the archangel started to leaf through his book, pointing out things he absolutely had to try and every now and then snapping to will one of them into existence. When Gabriel was finally done with the book, there were seven different desserts to be found in Bobby’s kitchen and Castiel had consumed another five glasses of eggnog.

It was around that time Dean caught on to Castiel’s affinity for the drink. The older Winchester grinned to himself and vowed to keep the eggnog flowing. Judged by previous experiences, it was highly unlikely that Cas would even get tipsy, but they had all day, a couple of cartons of eggnog and enough hard liquor to thin it down with.

It was already late in the evening when Dean finally got around to putting batteries in Castiel’s remote controlled car and instructed the angel on how to use it. The first hint that something was off the older Winchester saw, was that the car was immediately directed toward Tarot who was pulling his legs up into the chair he was sitting on a little panicked, when Dean handed the remote control to his angelic friend. The moment Castiel started to giggle over the incident, the older Winchester was sure that Gabriel hadn’t messed with his present.

“Okay, Cas, that’s enough eggnog for you,” Dean decided, rubbing his jaw as he tried to decide whether to laugh or be alarmed. The older Winchester settled for laughing when Castiel began to hum the Batman theme driving his little car around Bobby’s living room.


	13. Chapter 13

**12**

 

The Winchesters stayed with Bobby for three days before they hit the road again. There was no new information on the horsemen or on anything that might help with the spell Gabriel hoped to work, but Dean was tired of sitting around waiting for something to come up. The older Winchester had decided it was time for them to leave and at least gank a few of their usual sons of bitches at least.

The Impala had only just hit the highway when Sam’s cell phone rang. The brothers had exchanged a short look, before the younger Winchester answered the call.

“You two better come back, right now,” Bobby ordered without greeting. The oldest hunter sounded much too anxious for it to mean anything good, which immediately had the younger Winchester on edge.

“Come back? What happened, Bobby?” Sam asked worriedly, shooting Dean a look that let the older Winchester know to turn the car around as soon as he could. Bobby wasn’t the type to cry wolf, so something had to have happened.

“Hell if I know, but it sure ain’t anything good,” Bobby replied, taking a deep breath. All the hunter knew was that one moment he’d had three angels behaving normally – for their individual standards – around the house and the next all three of them appeared to be in pain. Castiel and Gabriel had disappeared without explanation a second later. There was no use asking Tarot what the hell had happened when the seraph was cowering in a corner, shaking like he hadn’t since the first few days Bobby had known him.

“Alright, Dean’s taking the next exit. We’ll be there in a few,” Sam promised, before he ended the call. It didn’t look like they’d have to worry about too much downtime anymore.

 

* * *

 

 

Castiel and Gabriel landed in the clearing side by side. They needn’t be angels to notice that something tremendously wrong had happened in the place. The clearing wasn’t a clearing until recently. All the trees had fallen at once, forming a perfect circle, some of the leftover stumps were still smoking. Some nutter would have probably called this proof for an upcoming alien invasion, Gabriel was sure.

The archangel start walking toward the middle of the clearing, Castiel just a few steps behind him. Unfortunately, being the latter was what made the blue-eyed seraph the primary target for the two new angels who had only just arrived.

Castiel instinctively drew his blade a split second before either one of the suit-clad angels reached him. The first of the attackers fell victim to the blue-eyed seraph’s quick reflexes, the second one wouldn’t die as easily though.

In the meantime, Gabriel continued on until he reached the middle of the clearing. A deep frown appeared on the archangel’s face just before a hand broke through the dirt. Gabriel was quick to grab the arm that was reaching up to him and pulled a young man out of the earth.

The human lost consciousness before the archangel could get him out of his grave completely, but Gabriel didn’t have troubles getting him into an upright position –with the young man’s arm slung around the archangel’s neck- regardless.

It was then that Gabriel looked back to Castiel, who still had his angel blade in his hand. The archangel thought that his brother was shooting him an accusing glare, but that might just have been Gabriel’s interpretation.

“What? You had it under control.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Who is that?” Bobby asked, as Gabriel put the still unconscious young man on his couch. The hunter had expected a lot of things – very few of them good – but the two angels returning with another person hadn’t been one of them.

“Someone with a good portion of Winchester in them,” Gabriel replied. The archangel touched the unconscious human’s chest and gave him the same wardings the Winchester brothers already had on their ribs. There was no way to tell how desperate heaven was to get their hands on the young man and in their situation, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

“John… John’s third kid?” Bobby asked, lifting his trucker’s cap to scratch the side of his head. A part of the hunter hoped that he was wrong in his assumption. The boy was supposedly dead, so somebody dragging him back to the land of the living couldn’t be a good sign.

“Looks like it,” Gabriel commented, shrugging lightly as he turned around. The archangel only met Bobby’s eyes for a moment, before he exchanged loaded looks with his blue-eyed brother instead. Bobby couldn’t say that he was pleased with the silent conversation that was clearly going on between the two angels, but the hunter didn’t get enough time to get really annoyed before the distinct sounds only the Impala made announced the return of the Winchesters.

“Bobby, what…?” Sam started to ask in an alarmed tone, on his way through the door with Dean close behind. Once both of them got a good look at the room at large, they were struck dumb for a moment.

“Adam?” Dean finally managed to make his mouth cooperate. The older Winchester’s eyes were so wide it was almost comical, but Gabriel had the good grace not to mention it.

In fact, the archangel wasn’t even tempted to make a joke about Dean’s stupid surprised face. A wave of intense confusion that had clearly come from Sam rather than from himself, hit Gabriel hard. Apparently, the younger Winchester wanted to share the emotional turmoil he was going through with the archangel, possibly in the childlike hope that Gabriel would somehow make it better. The archangel wasn’t all that sure that he would be able to give Sam what he wanted in this case he was however immensely pleased to have proof that the younger Winchester was keeping the amulet Gabriel had given him on his person.

“What does that mean?” Sam asked, his eyes not leaving the unconscious form of the younger brother he had never gotten to know better. Meeting the ghoul pretending to be Adam didn’t really count. All it counted for was the knowledge that they even had another brother, what he looked like and that he had died much too early, everything else might as well have been a lie.

“It means the gloves are coming off,” Gabriel replied in an animated tone that contradicted his grim expression, “Our brothers resurrected the littlest Winchester here for a reason and I’ll bet it’s nothing good. Actually, let me rephrase that, I bet I know why and it’s worse than not good.”

Sam couldn’t help, but think that no matter how often he saw the archangel’s serious side, it never seemed to fit the smaller man. Every time the younger Winchester thought of Gabriel his mind came up with pictures of the smaller man’s smiling face, of that laugh that lit his eyes up just as much as a bout of angelic rage did, only in a much more pleasant way.

“Care to share with the class?” Dean prompted impatiently. Ever since the archangel had joined the team, the older Winchester felt like he was missing out on parts of the story. There was always something going on or being spoken about he didn’t get and Dean didn’t like it one little bit.

“John Winchester’s son, Sam Winchester’s brother, it is not ideal, but it might suffice,” Castiel explained in a grave tone.

“Are you saying…?” Dean asked, swallowing heavily. It was bad enough that the heavenly douchebags brought back their brother to use him against them in some way, but hearing that Adam was supposed to take his oldest brother’s place in the Apocalypse was worse still.

“Balls!” Bobby cursed when Gabriel only nodded. Slowly but surely they were accumulating quite a number of people who had to be kept away from the angels and the bigger their numbers got, the higher the chances of messing up somewhere where. The oldest hunter thought of asking how the hell they were supposed to deal with their newest issue, just as Adam’s eyelids began to flutter.

“Where am I?” Adam mumbled, looking around blearily for a few moments before his eyes fixed on the group of strangers looking back at him, “Who the hell are you? Where’s Raphael?”

Castiel frowned, distaste showing on his face all too clearly at the mention of the archangel. It didn’t help that Tarot flinched violently, pressing himself against the wall even more firmly at the mention of their older brother.

“Raphael, huh? Sorry to disappoint you kiddo, but I guarantee we’re better company,” Gabriel answered with a light shrugthat accompanied his hollow attempt to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, right,” Adam huffedand sat upright, before placing his feet on the floor. He didn’t quite trust his legs to carry him yet, but he wouldn’t keep lying around while everybody else was standing, looking down at him.

“Okay, listen we’re… uh… we’re your brothers,” Dean explained a little awkwardly. There was probably no good and gentle way to break news like that quickly.

“John Winchester was our father, too. I am Sam and…” the younger Winchester wanted to elaborate, but their youngest brother interrupted him before he could say anything more.

“That’s Dean then,” Adam said, nodding toward the older Winchester, “Great. They warned me about you!”

Raphael had made sure that Adam understood that his brothers were on the wrong side of the conflict the archangel had told him about. It hadn’t been that hard to believe, considering Adam only knew their father. If those two were anywhere near as trustworthy and reliable as John was, that could only spell trouble.

“Only about those two? I feel offended,” Gabriel quipped, “Raphie really didn’t mention me?”

“Depends,” Adam shot back, “Are you the traitorous fool or the blasphemous deserter?”

There were at least two people in the room Raphael had in fact not mentioned, but they probably weren’t important then.

“Definitely the second, but you can call me Gabriel,” Gabriel replied with a sly grin. However, it wasn’t the kind of grin Sam liked to see on the archangel’s face. The younger Winchester wasn’t sure when he had learned to read the tiny nuances between one of Gabriel’s genuine grins and one he simply forced for the sake of the show, but he could tell the difference.

“Okay, Adam, why don’t you just tell us what you know?” Dean suggested. The archangel could make jokes until his face turned blue after they had learned everything they needed to know, for all the oldest Winchester cared -as long as he didn’t have to be around to witness it- but this wasn’t the time.

“What I know is that I am not supposed to be here,” Adam pointed out, setting his jaw stubbornly, “I’m supposed to be with Raphael, saving the world and all that jazz. Apparently I’m chosen. Me and this archangel, Michael, we’re going to kill the devil. So if you don’t mind, I’d really like to get going.”

There was no point holding back information from the others, if that only meant they’d keep him from doing what he had to do even longer. Raphael had told Adam about a symbol he was supposed to paint in blood to get the angels to pick him up, if they for some reason didn’t find him immediately. Though, it probably was common courtesy to summon those angels away from the house at least. What Adam didn’t know was that a few strategically placed wards Gabriel had added to the general protection of Bobby’s house would have rendered any effort to summon anyone or anything into the house moot, anyway.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no. Sit down. Just listen, okay? Please,” Sam exclaimed, looking to his older brother for support, “The angels are lying to you.”

Dean nodded along with what his younger brother said. The older Winchester wasn’t going to fulfill what the angels claimed was his destiny, but that didn’t mean that he was going to let them get his youngest brother instead!

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Adam huffed, getting up from the couch before he went on talking, “They’re angels, they’re the good guys.”

“Believe me, I wish things were that easy,” Sam sighed. The younger Winchester couldn’t help giving the angels in the room an apologetic shrug. There obviously were some good angels, but most of the ones they met weren’t any better than your average demon.

“You can’t choose them over us!” Dean stated definitely not even waiting a second after his younger brother was done speaking, “We’re family!”

Bobby groaned silently. The oldest hunter would have bet good money that the youngest Winchester wouldn’t be open to the idea of a family bond before giving his family situation, but seeing his eyes flash dangerously as they did that moment, Bobby nearly wished that he had actually made that bet.

“No we are not!” Adam started in a low tone that got louder as he continued speaking, “I don’t know you! Hell, I hardly knew dad! You can’t just tell me we’re brothers and expect it to mean something!”

“It means something to us!” Dean yelled back. The older Winchester couldn’t take being yelled at without retaliating, especially when someone was stomping over one of the few things Dean believed in. Family had been important to their father and he had taught his oldest especially, that the family had to be kept together. Granted, John had never told them about Adam, but he had done it to keep the kid safe. If their youngest brother had ended up living with them somehow, Dean just knew their dad would have expected them to treat him like a brother, because that was what he was.

“Time out,” Gabriel stated, raising his arms as he stood between the two taller men, “To your corners, both of you.”

Neither Dean nor Adam had noticed that they had moved closer to each other until they were close enough to throw punches, if necessary. In a way, they both were grateful to have an excuse to back off without having to hit the other though.

“Can’t you at least give it a day? Sleep over it?” Sam asked in a calm, but hopeful tone, “We’ll all take some time to calm down and then have a talk again.”

The younger Winchester had some hopes that their brother would be more open to listening to their side of things, once he had a little more time to get to terms with being alive again and everything that came to it. Actually, once Adam got used to being on Earth again, he might not be quite so keen on giving up all control to an angel who wanted to possess him, if they were lucky.

“Okay, so what if I don’t change my mind? ‘Cause you know, right now I’m pretty damn sure of what I want to do,” Adam asked, looking at both his older brothers challengingly, “You’re just going to let me walk out that door and wave goodbye?”

“Hell no!” Dean replied, immediately up in arms again. All this wasn’t only about them, after all. Half the world would pay the price if Adam made the wrong decision, but it didn’t look like the little shit had understood that yet.

Adam snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. It wasn’t like he had expected a different answer anyway. “Then what’s there to talk about?”


	14. Chapter 14

**13**

 

Adam had waited until late at night to try and sneak out of the house. It was highly doubtful he stood a chance to get away from a bunch of angels that easily, but at least his half-brothers and their mentor were sleeping, so that was three people less he had to worry about.

Adam figured all he needed were a few minutes to paint that summoning symbol somewhere on the ground outside and then all this would be pretty much over for him. It wasn’t that Adam didn’t see what the others were going on about, he just didn’t see a better choice. A lot of people would die in the crossfire when Michael and Lucifer had their fight, but ultimately it would be for the best. Besides, the alternative was to let the devil roam the Earth freely. How could that be better?

Sam had explained to Adam that there were two possible ways to stop the Apocalypse they were currently working on, but the reactions to Adam’s question how well that was going for them hadn’t been encouraging in the least. Nothing he had told him over the day had changed Adam’s opinion on the topic. He was going to find a way to get to the angels and say yes to Michael, as he was meant to do.

Adam already had one hand on the door handle, when a soft voice stopped him.

“Please, don’t leave.”

Flinching was a completely natural response to getting a scare from the angel’s sudden appearance on Adam’s part, it wasn’t that obvious why the other man flinched even harder than he did, though. It only took a moment for Adam to get a grip on himself. He was fully prepared to fight for his right to go through with his plan.

“Who’s going to stop me? You?” Adam asked in a sharp tone, rising to his full height for good measure. It was probably a spectacularly stupid idea to challenge an angel, but Adam couldn’t help it. He had made up his mind and he wasn’t going to stay prisoner in this house, just because his brothers didn’t agree with him!

“Once you s-say y-yes, you n-never get to s-say n-no again,” Tarot stammered, trying and failing to look the other man in the eyes. There were things the seraph had to say and it would be hard enough to force himself to get the words out, if he also tried to maintain eye-contact the already hard task might very well become an impossible one.

Tarot had seen and heard Adam interact with everyone else over the day. The angel hoped that someone would find something to tell the youngest Winchester brother that would change his mind on saying yes to Michael, but apparently nobody had. Tarot hadn’t found it in him to stand up and speak his mind while others were listening as well, but when Adam snuck through the house with the obvious intention to leave without telling anybody, the angel realized that he had to speak up that moment or regret not trying, forever.

Adam frowned in confusion. He had gone through a lot of possible confrontations in his mind while waiting for his chance to escape. There were a lot of different arguments or threats Adam had come up with that one of the people around might throw at him. What the angel had just said was far from anything Adam had expected to hear though. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They… they are not… not the good guys,” Tarot managed to say, hugging himself and clenching his eyes shut, “They are not.”

Adam swallowed heavily. He knew who the angel was talking about. Adam had insisted that the angels wouldn’t lie to him completely off the fact they obviously were the good guys in the story. Hell, even if they were lying to him, they were still the ones that needed to win the Apocalypse, because they simply were the good – or at least, better – guys.

“We’ve been over this; it’s my destiny, okay?” Adam replied more defensively than he would have liked. There was some niggling doubt that had taken hold in Adam’s mind over the day. If it was his destiny to be Michael’s vessel and fight the devil, why had they gone for Dean first? If it was his destiny to step up because Dean wouldn’t, did he really want to be second choice? If it really was Dean’s destiny first, why would they have even had a second choice? Adam had pushed those thoughts away as quickly as they had come every time, but he found it hard to do the same now. It probably had helped that just about every conversation he had earlier that day had ended in argument and most of the time with raised voices. It was easy to push his own doubt away when he had something to be angry about, something that sparked his stubbornness and made him want to go through with his own plan even more.

“J-just an-another way of s-saying you d-don’t have a… a ch-choice,” Tarot stuttered, backing away from the human until his back hit the wall. The seraph’s legs felt wobbly and he would have liked nothing better, but to just retreat into one of the corners he had gotten well acquainted with over the weeks. Tarot didn’t want to talk anymore, but he felt that he had to say one last thing before letting Adam make his own choice. “Don’t… don’t l-let them… don’t let them d-do that to you; n-n-not for your b-b-brothers, j-just for your… yourself.”

If Tarot had been able to even imagine what his own brothers were capable of, he would have ran as quick and as far as he could at the first whispers of Zachariah looking for him. At the time, the seraph couldn’t imagine that any angel would ever take another’s choices away from him, like they had done to him over days or weeks. Tarot had lost sight of time in the sessions with Zachariah and Naomi. In a way, the fact that he couldn’t remember how much time he had spent with them anymore was the worst part of it all, it felt like they had taken away his very essence. The seraph could hardly remember casting the spell to de-age Sam and Dean Winchester, he only knew that something had gone wrong and he had ended wandering around aimlessly until Castiel had found him.

“Okay, okay, easy man,” Adam said quickly, trying to reassure the hyperventilating seraph. He wasn’t sure what the vacant expression in the angel’s eyes meant, but he obviously was in a lot of distress. Something about seeing the seraph break down in front of him called out to the side of Adam still dreamed of becoming a doctor, despite his newfound destiny. “I hear you, just… just take a few deep breaths.”

The honesty in his own words surprised Adam. He had heard the angel’s argument and it had struck a chord with him. It was pretty damn hard to just disregard somebody’s words when they had fought so hard to even say them. Adam shook his head a couple of times to clear his thoughts. There still was time, nobody else had noticed what he was up to, so he could spare a few more moments to speak to the angel.

“What’s it to you?” Adam asked in a calm tone, “I get it, I do, you guys think you can beat destiny, but if heaven wins, you win too. So what if I let Michael in? Maybe I’ll regret it, but you’d still…”

Adam stopped speaking the moment Tarot’s legs finally gave out. The seraph pulled his legs against his chest as soon as he hit the ground, rocking forward and back frantically as much as his own shaking limbs and the wall behind him allowed.

“Hey hey, calm down,” Adam exclaimed, alarmed. He instinctively reached for the angel to comfort him with a touch, but pulled his hand back immediately when the gesture only upset the seraph more. “Okay, sorry, I’m not… just keep breathing.”

Adam crouched down next to the angel - making sure to keep enough space between them not to cause another negative reaction in the distressed man – and started to take deep, regular breaths himself as if to demonstrate to Tarot what he was supposed to do. They stayed like that for what felt like hours to Adam but was nothing more than a couple of minutes.

“What did they do to you?” Adam mumbled to himself once the seraph looked a little more stable again. When Adam realized that he had spoken aloud, he decided that he might as well make it an actual question for Tarot to answer. “You said they weren’t the good guys. What did they do to you?”

For a few long moments Adam thought that the angel was going to freak out on him again, instead then the other man looked up to him for a split second, before lowering his gaze again. It didn’t look like the seraph was preparing for another round of shaking apart, it looked like he was trying to find the words to answer and Adam was happy to let him have all the time he needed for that.

“I d-did n-n-not want a-any of this,” Tarot managed to get out, “I s-said n-no until… until… I… I couldn’t…”

Even if the angel hadn’t succeeded in giving Adam the full story, the human understood enough of what he had been trying to say. Adam swallowed heavily once more, trying to get his own thoughts in order again. The seraph obviously had said no to something and the other angels had made him pay for it. Looking at the sorry state Tarot was in, Adam suddenly found it rather easy to believe that the angels weren’t necessarily the good guys in the story, at least not all of them were.

“Said no to what?” Adam asked nearly tonelessly, “What did they do to you?”

Adam realized his mistake immediately. He had pushed too far and the angel was shutting down again. At least that was what it looked like when Tarot brought his knees more firmly against his chest, resting his forehead on the top of his knees, still shaking.

“Sorry, no more questions right now, it’s okay, you don’t have to…” Adam stated in what he hoped to be a comforting tone. However, just a moment later he fell back on his butt, staring at the wall behind Tarot with big eyes. “Jesus!”

There wasn’t much light in the room, but Adam could see the shadowy outlines of wings on the wall clear as day. After he managed to get over the first surprise and awe at seeing an angel’s wings, Adam realized that something was wrong with the shadows. One wing hung lower than another, like he couldn’t extend it properly. Some parts were clearly lighter than others, like a layer of feathers was missing and the bottom of the wings was too uneven to contain all the big flight feathers that should have been there. Maybe the worst part was that it looked like the bones on top of the wing had been broken at the ends.

“Does… does it hurt?” Adam asked what he was sure was a dumb question. What did you say when an angel was showing you his damaged wings, though? Especially knowing that other angels had done it, the very angels Adam had insisted where ‘the good guys’ all day long.

A few moments passed before the shadows disappeared and Tarot raised his head enough to peer at Adam from under his bangs. The seraph nodded ever so slightly. The pain didn’t bother him as much as it probably should have, but it was there.

“Can I…?” Adam asked in a soft tone, extending his arm just far enough to show that he wanted to touch the seraph, but still far enough not to disturb his personal bubble. Suddenly, it made a lot of sense that the angel had freaked out at him when Adam had tried to touch him earlier, but he still wanted to try again.

Tarot looked at the human’s hand warily for a few moments, like he thought Adam might slap him, before he took a deep breath and nodded his consent. The seraph was glad that the human continued to move slowly, giving him more time to prepare himself for the moment when the hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Hey, look, I can’t keep calling you ‘the angel’,” Adam said, breaking the silence that had fallen between then. He couldn’t help wondering, if the seraph would need him to spell it out for him, or if this angel could actually take a hint, but Adam didn’t have to wonder for long.

“Tarot,” the angel whispered, meeting the human’s eyes for a moment before he looked into the general direction of his shoes again.

“Nice to meet you, Terry,” Adam replied with a small smile. To tell the truth, he had meant to make a stupid joke about how Tarot’s name sounded New Age, even though he was probably much older than New Age. While Adam’s brain had been busy keeping all dumb comments in, the nickname had slipped.

“You… you gave me a n-nickname,” Tarot observed, not sounding displeased by the fact. If anything, he sounded a little baffled by it.

“Sounded like you could use one,” Adam shrugged a little awkwardly. Luckily, nothing more had been said on the topic.

They sat like that for some time before the light was turned on all of a sudden, causing Tarot to flinch slightly and Adam to blink against the sudden brightness.

“You boys sure are up early,” Bobby stated in his usual gruff tone. The hunter’s eyes said all too clearly that he had a good idea what Adam had really been up to originally, but he didn’t comment on it. If the kid was anything like his brothers or his old man, there would be no faster way to make him run for real than to berate him on something he hadn’t actually done.

“Yeah, I couldn’t really sleep,” Adam shrugged, getting to his feet. On second thought, he held his hand out for Tarot to take, if the seraph wanted to. “No promises for the future, but I’ll stay for now.”

Tarot took Adam’s hand after a few moments of consideration. The other man had only just pulled him to his feet, when the seraph looked at him shocked. Of course, now that Bobby was awake and around Adam’s chance to get out without anybody raising alarm had passed, but hearing the human say this clearly that he was going to stay, was a surprise.

“We’re going to need more coffee for breakfast then,” Bobby replied and nodded contently because of the new information. They could work with Adam at least giving them more time. The hunter wasn’t sure it would be good enough for everyone else, but it sure was for him.

Tarot’s whole face immediately lit up at the mention of coffee. Brewing coffee just the way the hunters liked it, was one more thing he could do to make himself useful. All in all, Tarot felt like he was accomplishing things that day. It was a strange feeling for the seraph, but not at all unpleasant.


	15. Chapter 15

**14**

 

Sam was glad that Adam had decided to give stay at Bobby’s a chance, he really was. However, the younger Winchester couldn’t deny that he was equally glad to finally be out of the house again. Being around Adam for longer periods of time it turned out wasn’t exactly easy. Not that their half-brother was to blame all the time – or even most of the time, really – but Adam and Dean tended to clash horribly as soon as a topic they didn’t agree on came up. Anything to do with their Dad brought about their most heated arguments. Sam couldn’t deny that he had been happy when Bobby told them there was a skinwalker on the loose and they needed to go check it out.

It was too late to actually start working on the case when the Winchesters finally drove into town, but Sam decided to go over the newspaper clippings they had and see if there was more information on the three suspicious deaths online after they got settled in their motel room.

Some time later, Dean was already snoring softly in his sleep, the younger Winchester thought about calling it a night as well. Sam was sure he had gathered all the relevant information he could get without actually talking to someone and it wouldn’t do him any good to be sleepy the next day because of not catching a few hours when he had the chance.

“Hey Sambo,” Gabriel suddenly stated, badly startling Sam. The younger Winchester quickly looked over to the bed where his brother was sleeping, but it seemed like Dean hadn’t been awoken by their visitor. To be realistic, the older Winchester’s uncharacteristically deep sleep might very easily have been the archangel’s doing.

“Gabriel? What are you doing here? I thought you were meeting with Cas and Balthazar,” Sam said in a hushed tone, just in case Gabriel hadn’t actually done anything to make sure Dean stayed asleep. The archangel had let them know that he had finally been able to set up a meeting with Balthazar and they would make plans to break into the heavenly armory to get the Holy Grail. There was nothing the Winchesters could do to help with that kind of mission, but they both appreciated at least knowing about what the angels on their side were up to.

“I was, but then I decided I’d much rather be here,” Gabriel grinned, moving closer to Sam. The younger Winchester suddenly felt trapped in the chair. Technically, he could have moved away any time he wanted, but something about the way the archangel was looking at him made the younger Winchester feel like he was frozen, glued to the spot.

“Uh… I thought you were going to talk about the Grail. You know, important stuff?” Sam asked, his eyes meeting Gabriel’s golden ones. The younger Winchester thought that the archangel had a seductive glint in his eyes, but that couldn’t be right. Gabriel had been nothing, but friendly to him over the past weeks, there had been nothing to make Sam hope that the archangel might have some of the same naughty thoughts the younger Winchester had developed over Christmas.

“This is more important,” Gabriel whispered, brushing some stray hair out of Sam’s face with a tender smile before he suddenly straddled the younger Winchester’s legs, actively sitting in his lap.

“What are you…?” Sam exclaimed, before he remembered that Dean was still sleeping in the same room.He bit his lip to keep quiet. It wasn’t that the younger Winchester hadn’t thought about situations like this, had wished for it to happen even, but this was all too sudden and surprising for him to keep up.

“Nothing you don’t want,” Gabriel practically purred, waggling his eyebrows suggestively and pressing his palms against Sam’s chest to feel him up while he had the chance, “You’ve been projecting pretty loudly since Christmas.”

The younger Winchester’s eyes widened comically, his mouth hanging open as he fought for the right words to say. In the end, what made it past Sam’s lips was an accusation. “I… You said the amulet only shares what I want you to know!”

“It does,” Gabriel replied, hurt apparent in his voice, “Don’t you want me to know how you feel about me?”

The archangel didn’t show any signs of wanting to move away from his place in Sam’s lap, but the seductive expression had vanished from his face. Instead Gabriel looked almost desperate for an answer to his question.

“No, it’s… it’s good this way,” Sam decided, giving the archangel a meek, but genuine smile. The younger Winchester had long since admitted to himself that he had developed a pretty big crush on Gabriel. If Sam hadn’t been too scared of being rejected, he might have told the archangel right around Christmas. Some part of the younger Winchester must have wanted Gabriel to know about his feelings, bad enough for him to project them over the amulet anyway. Knowing that the archangel was on board with the idea of them being more than friends, Sam couldn’t find anything bad about it.

“Just give me a second, Sam,” Gabriel grinned, pressing up against the younger Winchester even more before he promised, “It’ll get better.”

Sam opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn’t quite sure what at that point, but before a sound could come out, Gabriel pressed their lips together. The kiss was everything the younger Winchester had fantasized about and he couldn’t help, but wrap his arms around the archangel to keep them as close together as possible. Gabriel was apparently happy enough with that response, because he renewed his attack on Sam’s lips, mumbling the younger Winchester’s name…

“Sam! Sammy! Wake up,” Dean said loudly, shaking his younger brother’s shoulder to finally get him to snap out of it. Sam was obviously having the dream of a lifetime, but the older Winchester had something important to tell him.

The younger Winchester sat upright within the blink of an eye, batting away the newspaper clipping that was stuck to his cheek with a heavy hand.

“Wha…?” Sam asked trying to wrap his mind around the fact that everything with Gabriel had been nothing but a dream. The younger Winchester’s blood ran cold the moment he looked at his brother and the thought that he might have spoken in his sleep occurred to him.

“Yeah, sorry to disturb your hot, nerdy librarian dreams,” Dean shrugged, smirking at his younger brother. The older Winchester didn’t know it, but he had just lifted the weight off Sam’s shoulders with his assumption. Nearly anything was better than Dean knowing what the younger Winchester had actually dreamed about.

“That’d be you, Dean,” Sam retorted dryly, “I know the difference between real life and porn.”

Then again, looking at the way the younger Winchester’s dream had played out, he probably didn’t know the difference between real life and porn that well after all. Sam was all for letting Dean think that his dream had been some random porn-worthy scenario though. He still hadn’t told his older brother about the amulet and Sam liked the thought of telling Dean about his feelings for Gabriel even less.

“You sure do,” Dean smirked again, giving his brother a pointed look, before he turned serious, “But we have other things to deal with. Remember Anna?”

 

* * *

 

 

“Alright, it’s decided then,” Gabriel stated, clapping his hands once for effect, “Cassy goes back to the Winchesters to make sure they don’t fall into any wells, while we…”

The archangel had meant to say that he and Balthazar were going to break into the armory while Castiel watched the Winchesters, but a sudden assault of feelings and mental images – not of his own - didn’t allow Gabriel to finish his statement. The archangel closed his eyes for a few moments, fighting down the effect Sam’s thoughts had on him. The archangel was in full control of the biology of his vessel, but he was a very physical being and had hardly ever seen a reason to keep a lid on any physical reactions a normal human being would have.

“Gabriel?” Castiel asked in a worried tone. The seraph threw a quick glance toward Balthazar to see if his brother had an idea what was going on. At least, the other angel didn’t seem to be concerned in the slightest.

“Uh… just give me a second,” Gabriel cleared his throat noisily, shaking his head to get rid of the images still clinging to the forefront of his mind. The archangel really didn’t have the time to figure out what exactly those meant that very moment. Actually, the pictures spoke for themselves with the fact that Sam had wanted him to see them – though it looked like they came out of a dream and thus, it probably hadn’t been a completely conscious decision on the younger Winchester’s part – wasn’t that hard to interpret either.

“Are you feeling unwell, brother?” Castiel inquired since nobody was making an effort to explain what was going on.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gabriel shrugged, “I was just… feeling a little hot for a moment there.”

The archangel still didn’t know what to do about the situation with Sam. On the one hand, Gabriel was completely on board with everything he had just learned was going through the younger Winchester’s mind, he was a very attractive man after all. However, the problem was that the archangel knew all too well that eight year old Sammy had had a crush on him and he had said himself that kid was still inside of Sam. If the younger Winchester’s feelings were caused by his younger self, Gabriel couldn’t act on them, no matter how much he returned them. It felt all kinds of wrong to exploit a puppy crush like the one little Sammy had had on him. The archangel wasn’t going to claim that he had never done morally dubious things, but this was one line he wasn’t going to cross.

“I did not notice any change in temperature,” Castiel commented in a confused tone, frowning deeply.

“I don’t think that’s the kind of warmth he was talking about, Cassy,” Balthazar replied, smirking at Gabriel knowingly. The seraph didn’t know what exactly had gone through his older brother’s mind or why, but even if the archangel had done his best to nip all telltale signs in the bud, Balthazar had still seen some subtle signs of arousal.

“I do not understand,” Castiel admitted. The blue-eyed angel was relieved that neither of his brothers seemed to think what had just happened was something to be worried about, but he would have liked an actual explanation.

“Don’t worry, bro, once this mission is over, I’ll sit you down and we’ll have a long talk about all things human,” Balthazar promised, throwing an arm around Castiel’s shoulders and squeezing for a few moments.

The seraph had agreed to turn his back to heaven in favor of playing for the underdogs, because they at least promised to let him have his fun once the job was done. Realistically, if heaven won, things would get even more boring than they already were. The average angel’s idea of peace was not allowing any sort of conflict and banning everything that went against anything their father had ever said. Unfortunately, just about everything fun fell into one of those two categories. Of course, if heaven lost Lucifer would wage war against them sooner or later and they’d most likely all die. Either way, Balthazar wouldn’t like the outcome.

With their new team there was one favorable option, at least. If they lost they were all dead, which would be a real bummer, but if they won, things would go on as usual and Balthazar could go ahead and enjoy all the frivolous things that promised to be a lot of fun. He’d been promised a trip to Amsterdam for starters.

“You have been on Earth for a much shorter time than I, Balthazar,” Castiel pointed out. The angel didn’t understand how Balthazar could think that he knew more about humans than he did. Castiel had spent over a year in the company of the Winchesters, but most earthly things still confused him. Surely Balthazar wouldn’t fare any better.

“I’ve been watching just as long as you,” Balthazar retorted, before he added with a lewd grin, “But I’ve always paid attention to the parts that made you look away.”

Castiel gave his brother a scandalized look, he never got to voice his opinion on Balthazar’s antics before Gabriel decided that it was about time to get this operation back on track.

“Okay, okay, we can talk about Balthy being a pervert again later,” the archangel laughed, before he spoke on seriously, “We should get on with the plan.”

Castiel nodded curtly and disappeared to get back to the Winchester brothers. The seraph had made sure to know where he could find his charges before he had gone to meet his brothers. Of course, Castiel could have called Dean to ask where they were, but the stupid cell phone always ran out of battery or minutes in the most inappropriate moments.

“Are you sure you’re up for it, bro?” Balthazar asked after Castiel was gone, “You looked a little… overwhelmed there. I’m not getting my ass kicked just because you can’t…”

Just because the seraph was willing to break into heaven’s armory, did not mean that he agreed to make a kamikaze mission out of it. They had a plan and if they stuck to it, they would be in and out before anybody noticed, or at least before more than a handful of angels – that Gabriel should be able to deal with easily – noticed the were there.

“I’ve got it under control, Balthazar,” Gabriel interrupted his brother in a tone that didn’t allow for any objections. Sam didn’t send thoughts or emotions through the amulet that often and the archangel had gotten used to the normal kind after the first few times. It was mostly just reassurances, solicits for reassurances and apologies on behalf of Dean and recently, Adam. If he hadn’t been so surprised by the last message, it wouldn’t have fazed him at all. If Gabriel was completely honest, everything Sam had shared with him had surprised him at first, because the emotions were coming through much stronger than he had anticipated when he had created the amulets, but once he had gotten used to the intensity, the archangel had learned how to deal.

“Between all the archangels you might be my favorite, but don’t think I won’t ditch your sorry ass and run, if you get us into more danger than expected,” Balthazar stated bluntly, meeting his older brother’s eyes. The seraph had resisted the urge to deck Gabriel for ever running away, when he had first seen him again, but Balthazar was by no means willing to follow the archangel blindly and become a sacrificial lamb.

“Duly noted,” Gabriel replied, huffing out a chuckle, “I completely understand why Castiel thinks of you as highly as he does.”


	16. Chapter 16

**15**

 

Adam didn’t know what had happened. One moment they had been playing Blackjack at Bobby’s kitchen table and the next Tarot sat on the floor, hugging himself tightly, shaking like a leaf and mumblings words the youngest Winchester brother didn’t understand.

“It’s okay. Calm down. We’ve been over this, remember? Just breathe,” Adam instructed, trying to give his voice a calming note as he reached for the angel’s shoulders to steady him. They had established days ago that Adam was part of the very exclusive circle of people who could touch Tarot without making his condition worse.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Adam asked after giving Terry a little time to pull himself together. To be honest, the young man didn’t care if something that was important on a cosmic scale had affected the angel like this or if Adam or Bobby had unwittingly said or done something to cause Tarot distress. Adam simply wanted to know what had happened, so he could make it better somehow.

Bobby watched the two young men in silence. Whatever happened couldn’t be good, but there was no use trying to goad Tarot to speak a moment sooner than the seraph was ready to. They didn’t only need the angel to speak, they needed him to explain things in a way they could follow. It didn’t help that Bobby always had to be careful to not accidentally give Tarot any orders. . It minimalized his speech patterns a greater deal than he would have liked to admit. The angel would have to talk the moment the hunter demanded it, but Bobby wouldn’t be able to look in the mirror anymore, if he abused the bond Castiel had created between him and Tarot like that. The bond had been created strictly to ensure that the sandy-haired angel couldn’t betray them, not to make Bobby’s life easier.

“They… they are…” Tarot stammered, looking from Adam to Bobby before he lowered his eyes to the floor again, “They are messing with… with time again.”

Adam would have lied, if he claimed that he knew what his friend was talking about. It looked like Bobby had an idea though, so Adam continued crouching next to Tarot, rubbing the angel’s shoulders to help him calm down again.

In the meantime Bobby made unanswered calls to both Winchester brothers, before turning to Castiel and Gabriel’s numbers. To say that it was worrying that none of the hunter’s calls were answered was an understatement, but there was nothing much he could do about it.

“Balls.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Did it work? Are we really…?” Sam asked, looking down the street where the brothers had appeared, after Castiel had touched their foreheads. After a quick, but heated discussion their angelic friend had agreed to take them to the past to stop Anna from killing John and Mary with him.

“Unless they're bringing Pintos back into production, I, uh, I'd say yes,“ Dean replied, dragging his brother off the street. The older Winchester had done the entire time travel shtick before, but he couldn’t say that he had gotten used to the feeling of suddenly being in a year he hadn’t even been born yet. Not to mention seeing both their parents alive, happy and currently younger than Dean was, but they would deal with that once they had found them.

“Cas!” Sam suddenly exclaimed, hurrying to catch the angel before he fell to the sidewalk. Castiel had warned them that his fading powers could and most likely would cause complications with travelling through time, especially if he took two passengers with him. They were lucky that they all had made it, even if Cas looked worse for the wear.

“Easy, dude, easy,” Dean stated worriedly, grabbing Castiel’s second arm so the angel was held upright between the brothers.

“This went much better… than expected,” the angel smiled crookedly, before he passed out for good.

“What do we do now?” Sam asked, looking around nervously. They were standing on a busy sidewalk with an unconscious guy between them, but if anybody had noticed they weren’t showing it.

The younger Winchester wished he had followed the impulse to send a message to Gabriel before they had gone back in time. The thought to use the amulet to at least let the archangel know that they were about to travel through time had crossed Sam’s mind before, but he decided against it. It wouldn’t be good to distract Gabriel when he and Balthazar were in heaven to acquire the Holy Grail. They would have to deal with Anna by themselves.

“Find a motel where they won’t ask questions about sleeping beauty here,” Dean replied, nodding toward the unconscious angel, “And then go locate mom and dad before Anna does.”

Sam nodded his consent. It seemed like a sound plan. They could leave Castiel in a motel for a while without having to worry about the essentially helpless angel too much. As long as he stayed unconscious.

“You realize you just called Cas…?” the younger Winchester grinned slightly. His older brother didn’t allow him to even finish the question though.

“Don’t make me punch you, Sammy.”

 

* * *

 

 

Heaven was essentially the same Gabriel remembered it. Not that the archangel was surprised. Gabriel had been around for a very long time before he had taken his leave and knew from experience that things changed incredibly slowly in heaven. Most changes had to be forced and thus far, the archangel had to say that they had never changed for the better. However, Gabriel was confident that the spell Metatron had given to him could –with the right preparation– lead to a change for good. Of course, they had to first get all the ingredients together.

“Did you ever imagine your return to be like this?” Balthazar smirked at the archangel as they were making their way toward the armory, always careful to stay away from watchful eyes. For their plan to work smoothly, it was essential that nobody discovered that the seraph was in league with Gabriel before they got to the Grail. Balthazar didn’t particularly care if they found out afterward. It wasn’t like he planned to stick around heaven any longer.

“Oh yeah,” Gabriel replied, grinning back, “But I have a very active imagination.”

Sneaking back into heaven through backdoors and hiding in the shadows in the hope of not being noticed all too quickly, was indeed one of the possibilities the archangel had considered before. Homesickness had made Gabriel think of the strangest ways to get back home, especially in the early time after he had run away.

“I have to admit, I forgot what a class clown you always were,” Balthazar snorted, not without a hint of fondness though. There were far too few angels who understood the importance of just having some fun every now and then.

“Glad to get the chance to remind you,” Gabriel retorted, giving his brother a short smile. They had nearly reached the armory so it was time to split up, but the archangel hoped that he’d get to know Balthazar better after they had fulfilled their mission.

“Otheos! Greetings, brother,” Balthazar greeted the angel who was guarding the entrance to the armory. The other angel wasn’t overjoyed to see him, but Balthazar always had the habit of showing up wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, so his presence alone wouldn’t look suspicious to anybody.

“Balthazar, what do you want?” Otheos groaned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Balthazar was a known troublemaker, even though the seraph always managed to get away scot-free somehow. The worst that had ever happened to the angel, as far as Otheos knew, was being reprimanded. It probably helped that nobody gave Balthazar anything of great importance to care for, so any digressions weren’t of great importance to anybody either.

“Would you believe me, if I said I only want to speak to a brother I see around all too rarely?” Balthazar asked in a fake sweet tone. The angel didn’t believe that his brother would buy into the excuse anyway, but all he had to do was to keep the guard’s full attention on him.

“For good reason!” Otheos shot back, unable to contain his frustration with his brother, “It took us a long time to restore order after you volunteered to help ‘organize’ the armory!”

Misplacing some of the inventory of the armory as well as the documents going with them was the one thing that had ever gotten Balthazar into trouble, but somehow he had managed to weasel his way out of fitting consequences and had only been appointed cupid duty for some time instead. Ticking off the names of couples the cupids had successfully encouraged to get together on a seemingly endless heavenly list was a very tedious duty, but Balthazar had gotten off too easily, in Otheos’ opinion. The guard had been the one who had spent a very long time cleaning up the mess, after all.

“I’m really sorry,” Balthazar apologized with a slight smile that wasn’t all too apologetic.

“Of course you are,” Otheos huffed, glaring at his brother. It looked like Balthazar was really only there to make fun of him and the guard had better things to do than being played for a sucker by the good for nothing seraph!

“I didn’t mean about the mess,” Balthazar stated with a shrug.

The guard was immediately alarmed, but Gabriel was already standing behind him. Otheos didn’t even get the chance to draw his blade before the archangel pressed his palm against his forehead and the guard fell to the ground unconscious.

“Good night, brother,” Gabriel commented before he nodded toward Balthazar. Otheos was out like a light and wouldn’t wake up for a while. However, it was hard to tell how long exactly the guard would be unconscious, so they had no time to waste.

The armory was huge. Heaven’s weapons and all kinds of more or less dangerous artifacts were stored in long rows of shelves from ground to ceiling. It was by no means the part of heaven Gabriel liked best –it always served as a reminder of all the wars they had fought –but the archangel couldn’t deny that being back home stirred up long buried emotions. Walking around heaven, knowing that he was the enemy to nearly all his brothers and sisters was a bitter-sweet feeling.

Luckily, Balthazar knew exactly where they had to go. It stood to reason that whoever had restored order in the armory after the blonde seraph had been there the last time had put everything back to the exact spot it had been before. Balthazar hadn’t had any interest in the Holy Grail back then, but he knew where it was kept.

“Like stealing candy from a sleeping baby,” the seraph commented, grabbing the Grail from the shelf in front of him. Getting back to Earth should be the easiest part of the operation. As soon as they made it out of the armory they just had to fly back. Since they no longer cared about being seen, but had the advantage of being one step ahead of anybody who might follow them, there was hardly anything that could go wrong from this point on.

“Let’s go before baby wakes up or mommy comes in,” Gabriel chuckled, starting to walk back toward the entrance. The archangel didn’t want them to have to fight their way out, but if it came to it, he was confident that they’d be the ones to walk away. There were only two angels in heaven who could kill Gabriel and knowing his older brothers, they’d send the foot soldiers first in any case. Fighting their way in would have been much more problematic.

Gabriel suddenly gasped in pain, clutching his chest. “No, no, no!”

The connection the amulet the archangel had given to the younger Winchester had established between them snapped, leaving Gabriel with the deep seated feeling of loss in his very grace and the horrible realization that Sam was dead. Simply taking off the amulet, or even losing it wouldn’t have severed their bond that suddenly and finitely.

The archangel forced his feet to get moving again. As long as they were in heaven, he couldn’t do anything to find out what had happened. As long as they were in heaven, Gabriel couldn’t somehow bring Sam back before Lucifer did it. There was no room for doubt in the archangel’s mind that his older brother wouldn’t leave his one true vessel dead, but Lucifer getting his hands on Sam was the one thing that might be worse than the younger Winchester being dead. If only, because Gabriel couldn’t accept the possibility that one of the few things that could erase Sam from existence so completely that there was no bringing him back might have instead happened.

“Gabriel, what…?” Balthazar asked before his question got cut short by the arrival of four other angels. Just a minute ago the blonde seraph had been sure that a couple of new guards showing up was the least of their problems, but with Gabriel acting as strangely as he was, Balthazar wasn’t so sure anymore.

“You really don’t want to stand in my way right now,” the archangel announced in a dangerous tone, drawing his angel blade. Gabriel pushed all emotions aside, unleashing his angelic powers completely and stood before his attacking brothers in all his glory.

Three of the seraphs turned tail and fled immediately, the fourth fell victim to Gabriel’s blade when he foolishly charged the archangel. There would be time for regrets later, once Gabriel allowed himself to feel again.

Gabriel and Balthazar had only just reached the entrance of the armory when a sudden change in the atmosphere announced the arrival of a very specific archangel. Raphael came alone, but that didn’t give them an advantage. There was nothing Balthazar could do against an archangel and there was no doubt that Raphael had a bunch of angels just waiting for the signal to attack.

“This is exactly what I meant when I said ‘more danger than expected’,” Balthazar stated, looking at Gabriel apologetically for a moment before he disappeared into thin air.

“It’s just the two of us then, Gabriel,” Raphael spoke in a confident tone, drawing his angel blade.

“The two of us and whoever you summon when I kick your ass you mean?” Gabriel snorted. Overconfidence was the fast way to lose a battle and the archangel knew it, but while Raphael was more battle-scarred, Gabriel was craftier.

Before Raphael could say or do anything else, Gabriel charged. Instead of jump starting their fight, like Raphael expected, Gabriel ducked under his older brother’s blade and grabbed his shoulder, transporting them to a place where the fight would stay just between the two of them.


	17. Chapter 17

**16**

 

“They all say we’ll say yes,” Sam sighed once he and Dean had put the once more unconscious Castiel to bed. Luckily the seraph made it back from the past by himself after Michael had sent the Winchester brothers back to their motel room in the year 2010. Apparently all the time traveling had exhausted Castiel to the point where he simply passed out the moment he arrived in the present.

“I know. It’s getting annoying,” Dean huffed. The older Winchester didn’t want to think of the talk he had with Michael. He didn’t want to think of anything Apocalypse related, period. Instead Dean contemplated covering Castiel with a blanket or at least taking the angel’s shoes off to make him more comfortable. However, the older Winchester didn’t know if any of those things would make a difference to Castiel, so he decided against it.

“What if they’re right?” Sam asked after a few moments of silence, “I mean, we’ve got our plans, but…”

The younger Winchester didn’t want to doubt that they would get everything needed for one of Gabriel’s plans to work, but they hadn’t exactly made progress on either one this far. As things were, they still had time. As long as they both kept saying no, Michael and Lucifer couldn’t use them as vessels. The problem was that there were a lot of things the archangels could do to persuade them to say yes.

“No ifs or buts, Sammy, we’ve got our plans and we’ll stick to them,” Dean replied in a hard tone. Giving in was not an option. The older Winchester refused to even consider it. Dean knew that the moment he started to even think of saying yes to Michael as an option, sooner or later he’d end exactly at the point the angelic douchebag wanted him.

“Yeah, sure. I mean, of course, but with everything they’ve done already and it’s just we’re not really getting…” Sam started to say, but promptly stopped speaking when Gabriel suddenly appeared in the middle of the motel room.

The archangel looked disheveled, his hair in disarray and his clothes torn in some places. For a moment it seemed like Gabriel was swaying on his feet, but before Sam could even attempt to steady him the archangel caught himself. Gabriel’s eyes found the younger Winchester’s just a moment later and the archangel exhaled soundly. Sam never got the chance to ask what that was all about before the archangel wrapped his arms around his middle and hugged him tight.

“Oh thank father,” Gabriel mumbled against the younger Winchester’s shirt, refusing to let go just yet. The archangel had kept the relieved laugh inside when he felt the wave of worry Sam sent his way. After losing the connection and tracking down the amulet, fearing to find the younger Winchester dead or worse, it was more relieving than Gabriel could express in words to see Sam alive and apparently with no bigger worries than the fact that the archangel was acting strange.

“What happened to you?” Sam asked, bewildered. If the younger Winchester hadn’t been as worried about Gabriel’s wellbeing, he might have felt slightly embarrassed from the still lasting hug. Dean’s befuddled looks toward them was only part of it. Sam’s own, less than innocent thoughts about the archangel lately were the bigger issue, especially since he didn’t want Gabriel or Dean to get wind of those.

“Huh? Oh this,” Gabriel replied, reluctantly letting go of Sam. The archangel had set out to find the Winchesters as soon as he had managed to get away from Raphael and hadn’t taken the time to care about his appearance. Gabriel was glad that the real damage his older brother had managed to do wasn’t visible to the human eye. It would have been very hard to convince anybody that he was -essentially– okay otherwise. “You should see the other guy.”

“Gabriel,” Sam huffed, while Dean only shook his head quietly. Neither one of the brothers were the type to make a big deal out of non-life threatening injuries, but it was obvious that something had happened to Gabriel and neither of the Winchesters liked the feeling of somebody bullshitting them.

“No really, you should see the other guy,” Gabriel reaffirmed in a more definite and slightly cocky tone, “Raphie’s going to need a new vessel now.”

To be honest, in a fair fight Raphael would have been the one who walked away as the victor, but what was the point in fighting fair, if it took away every chance you had to win? Gabriel might have sworn off his old ways –to some extent– but that didn’t mean he was ready to be the righteous idiot who got his ass kicked because he was too noble to play dirty.

“Raphael? You ran into Raphael? You _fought_ Raphael?” Sam asked, alarmed. The archangel’s disheveled appearance suddenly made a whole lot of sense and the younger Winchester could only guess how much damage there was that they couldn’t even see. The important thing was that Gabriel was back and apparently relatively okay though.

“Short answer, yes,” the archangel shrugged, giving his voice a light tone that wasn’t completely heartfelt, “Long answer, later… maybe.”

Actually, there were things they had to talk about, but if Gabriel could help it, the details of his fight with Raphael wouldn’t be among them. The archangel needed to know what had happened to the Winchesters while he had been gone, especially since it apparently consisted of Sam dying and coming back to life. That should give them enough to talk about once the entire team was reunited.

There was one issue -Gabriel had only just noticed in all honesty- that needed to be dealt with immediately, though.

“What happened to Cassy?” the archangel asked, approaching the bed his unconscious little brother was lying on. The seraph’s condition seemed to be stable, but anything that could knock an angel out in the first place was worrisome. Then again, Castiel had been cut off from heaven quite some time ago, it stood to reason that his limited powers had to run out sooner or later. Gabriel made a mental note to keep an eye on that in the future.

“Time travel,” Dean replied curtly. Unbeknownst to the archangel, the older Winchester had his own plans to keep a closer eye on Castiel from then on. Dean had to admit that his angelic friend had tried to warn him that time travel would be hard on him and that he hadn’t listened, but Castiel hadn’t made it sound like taking them to the past with him to stop Anna would put him into a coma!

“That’s a story I have to hear, but not right here and now,” Gabriel stated with a frown, “And I better give lil’ bro’s batteries a recharge.”

Knowing that time travel had been involved in whatever had gotten Sam temporarily killed didn’t tell the archangel any of the details he really wanted to know –like, who had killed the younger Winchester and especially who had brought him back?– but it was a start.

Gabriel reached out toward Castiel when Sam suddenly took his hand, keeping him from touching his brother.

“You’re hurt,” the younger Winchester insisted, giving the archangel a concerned look in addition to sending another wave of worries his way. Sam wanted Castiel to feel better –nearly– as much as Dean did, but it wouldn’t help anyone to have two completely exhausted angels instead of one on their hands. Not to mention that the younger Winchester simply didn’t want to see Gabriel hurt any worse.

“It’s just a flesh wound,” Gabriel winked at Sam playfully, before he added seriously, “I know where my limits are, Sam. Semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers and all that jazz.”

Castiel jerked awake the moment the archangel touched his forehead, his flailing limbs nearly knocked Gabriel off his feet. The seraph hadn’t felt this full of energy since he had turned his back on heaven and after months spent getting used to his constantly lowering power levels, it was a peculiar feeling.

“Hope you enjoyed your nap, Cassy, we’ve got things to do,” Gabriel smiled, but Sam couldn’t help thinking that the archangel looked tired.

 

* * *

 

 

After taking a couple of detours to get rid of any angels who might have tried to follow Balthazar, the seraph finally landed in the middle of Bobby Singer’s salvage yard. This wasn’t what Balthazar considered finer living, but he supposed that it would do for a bunch of hunters. Luckily, the angel wouldn’t have to stay there for long. He had a delivery to make and that was that. Balthazar didn’t even try to kid himself into believing that he’d get through the rest of the Apocalypse without raising a finger again, but he absolutely wasn’t going to wait around just to be at anybody’s beck and call. Gabriel and Castiel would know how to contact him, if they needed him for something and that had to do.

Even standing just about a hundred feet away from the house Balthazar could sense the heavy wardings around the place. The angel also felt the altered sigils Gabriel had promised that allowed Balthazar to enter the house without troubles. The seraph took a deep breath and decided to get it over with. Waiting any longer than absolutely necessary would only delay the moment when he could leave all this behind and find his own place in this world. Balthazar could already see it, he was going to start with a trip to Amsterdam and then check out Paris, London, Las Vegas… but unfortunately he had to start with the inside of Bobby Singer’s house.

“Special delivery,” Balthazar announced, suddenly appearing in front of Bobby’s desk. From the corner of his eye, the angel noticed Tarot sitting on the floor with a small pile of clock parts and the third Winchester brother leafing through a medical book in an armchair next to the seraph. Balthazar’s appearance had obviously disturbed both of them. Tarot seemed nervous and twitchy and Adam put his book aside to touch the angel’s shoulder comfortingly. All in all, it wasn’t exactly a warm welcome, but it wasn’t like Balthazar had expected as much.

“Careful, old man, we don’t have an endless supply of Holy Grails,” the blonde seraph stated, handing the cup over to the older human.

“I’ll be damned,” Bobby muttered under his breath, taking the Holy Grail from the angel. It wasn’t every day the hunter got his hands on an artifact like that, even though he wasn’t completely sure which Holy Grail they he was handling. There were different myths about Holy Grails and it would have been interesting to learn which of those was the truth, or the closest to the truth.

“Weren’t you supposed to be with Gabriel?” Adam asked after he was sure that Terry was as relaxed as he was going to get with someone new in the room. Adam hadn’t met Balthazar before, but there were only so many angels who would waltz in with the Holy Grail, so it seemed like the logical conclusion that this was the angel Gabriel had wanted to break into heaven with.

"Last time I saw him he was in the company of Raphael, hard to say where things went from there," Balthazar shrugged. The seraph didn’t like the looks the two humans were giving him after he had finished his statement. At least Tarot had the good grace not to look at Balthazar like he was a traitor, then again Tarot hadn’t really looked at Balthazar the entire time he had been there.

"And you just left? Wow, angels _are_ dicks with wings,” Adam commented, snorting. He was still rubbing Terry’s shoulder to get his friend to calm down again after hearing Raphael’s name or after hearing about the fact that Gabriel was most likely fighting Raphael. Adam wouldn’t pretend that he knew what exactly got Tarot twitchy, but he didn’t have to know what exactly caused the symptoms to soothe them. Adam’s ultimate goal was to help Terry fight the causes instead of the symptoms, though.

"Some of us would actually stay dead if they bit the dust, though I hear you weren't the one who did the biting," Balthazar shot back in a casual tone. The youngest Winchester brother had only recently become important to heaven, but Balthazar had always made a point to gather information where he could get it. You never knew when a tidbit of information would become important, especially when it concerned the family both heaven and hell had been interested in for ages.

"Finally, confirmation that a British accent doesn't automatically make everyone charming!" Adam snarked. The fact that Adam could find a more or less fitting reply to just about anything, especially if someone hit a sore spot, was one of the reasons why so many of the conversations he had with Dean ended in arguments. The older Winchester never was one to step down and neither was Adam. It looked like Balthazar was the same as well.

“Like a Winchester would know what charm was, even if it bit them in the ass,” Balthazar retorted, “Again with the biting, this is too easy.”

“Idjits,” Bobby groaned, shaking his head. The hunter was tempted to tell the two bickering idiots to stop acting like preschoolers; but Sam, Dean, Castiel and Gabriel suddenly appeared before Bobby could open his mouth.

“We could have taken the Impala,” the older Winchester complained, ignoring everyone else in favor of glaring at Gabriel. Dean didn’t like travelling via angel airlines, even if the archangel and Castiel had brought the Impala along. That Gabriel hadn’t even asked for their opinion before just transporting them didn’t make anything better either.

“I don’t have the patience for that right now,” the archangel replied, shrugging casually.

“Good to see you made it out alive,” Balthazar commented from the side, nodding toward Gabriel.

“Where the hell have you guys been?” Adam demanded, looking at his brothers. They had tried calling Sam and Dean more than once, but had only gotten their voicemail, every single time. Bobby had insisted that it was nothing to be worried about, but Adam hadn’t been so sure about that.

“Long story,” Dean answered evasively, looking toward Sam for support. The younger Winchester was busy observing the archangel for any signs of excessive exhaustion, though.

“Mind sharing with the class? Terry was freaking out,” Adam shot back immediately.

“Whatever happened to Raphael?” Balthazar asked curiously, ignoring the topic the humans were speaking about.

“We were… making sure we all got born,” Dean explained, causing his youngest brother even more confusion.

“Shut up!” Bobby suddenly yelled loud enough for everyone to follow his order and look at him astonished, “One thing after the other! Sam, Dean, you start.”

The oldest hunter had gotten used to Winchester-related headaches a long time ago, but after adding a third Winchester and a bunch of angels to the mix, Bobby just knew that one day they’d be the death of him.


	18. Chapter 18

**17**

 

“To summarize, we secured the Holy Grail and you secured your existence,” Balthazar stated with a light shrug, “A successful day for Team Free Will.”

The Winchesters had saved their parents from Anna –with the added bittersweet bonus of Michael wiping Mary and John’s minds of ever having met their future children– without any damage done to the timeline. Granted, some changes might have been helpful, but the chances of negative side-effects simply was too great when changing the past. Not that Balthazar cared too much about any of that –as long as said side-effects didn’t affect him directly- but he had a feeling that the rest of the team wouldn’t agree with him there.

“You have a very simplistic way of looking at things, Balthazar,” Castiel replied, his tone taking on a disapproving note, “Anna died and now Michael knows that we are planning something.”

The blue-eyed seraph didn’t think to mention that Gabriel and Raphael’s fight had left a lot of destruction that would no doubt cause human scientists to scratch their heads in confusion, once they got around exploring the parts of mars this far largely unknown to humanity. Raphael was undoubtedly looking for a new vessel already, but at least Gabriel had walked away the victor and was healing nicely.

“Tell me, Cassy, does your way of looking at these things make you happy?” Balthazar shot back, “No? Then let me have mine. Besides, it’s not like Michael and Raphael didn’t already think that you’re up to something and from what I’ve heard Anna did it to herself.”

Tarot flinched and reached out to hold on to Adam’s sleeve, his fingers still trembling. The sandy-haired angel didn’t think that Anna had ‘done it to herself’ as Balthazar had said, at least not without something or rather somebody twisting her arm first. Dean and Castiel both agreed that Anna had acted very uncharacteristically prior to making her intentions to kill John and Mary Winchester clear. Tarot couldn’t bring himself to put his thoughts into words in front of everybody, but he suspected that another angel –Naomi came to mind, the very thought of her making Tarot flinch again- had a hand in altering Anna’s personality that drastically.

Adam frowned slightly, moving a little closer to Terry. He didn’t know what exactly the angel was thinking about, but his friend had that awfully vacant expression on his face while visibly shuddering. It wasn’t a stretch to assume that something Balthazar had said had caused the reaction, so Adam settled for glaring at the British angel while rubbing Tarot’s back.

“Some people just can’t handle the truth,” Balthazar commented casually. Everyone in the room apparently thought the seraph had committed a horrible crime just by saying how things were, even the ones who had never met dear departed Anna, for all Balthazar knew. It was about time the angel got to leave, anyway. He had done everything that had been asked of him and they stopped the Apocalypse yet, so there was only so much time left for Paris, Las Vegas, Bangkok…

“Before you go, take this with you,” Gabriel quickly remarked, handing Balthazar a mobile phone, “And make sure to answer it when one of us is calling. You can ignore telemarketers for now.”

Of course, the angels should be able to reach Balthazar without the use of earthly technology, but it couldn’t hurt to make sure that their human allies had a way to get a hold of the seraph too, just in case.

“You’re too generous, brother,” Balthazar replied in a snarky monotone, putting the phone into his pocket, “Well then, see you at the next disaster.”

Bobby shook his head with a silent groan. The newest addition to their team was useful –Balthazar had made sure that they got the Holy Grail, after all- but his people skills left a lot to be desired.

“Charming dude,” Dean snorted, summing up what nearly everyone around was thinking. Gabriel was mostly amused by his little brother’s antics and Castiel knew Balthazar too well to be thrown off by his behavior.

“I think we just found something we agree on completely,” Adam huffed out a laugh, looking at his older brother. No matter what he and Dean would undoubtedly argue about in the future, they would always be able to agree that Balthazar was annoying and wasn’t that good to know?

 

* * *

 

 

It was close to midnight when Sam stepped onto the porch. It was very cold outside, causing the younger Winchester to wrap his coat around him more tightly. Sam was used to being cold, most of the motels they usually stayed at and had stayed at all their lives, both with John and on their own hadn’t bothered to invest in good heating systems, but that didn’t mean that he liked it.

Gabriel, of course, seemed completely unaffected by the cold. The archangel was sitting on top of the steps leading up to the porch in his usual outfit. Gabriel gave no sign that he had even noticed Sam’s presence. The younger Winchester had just enough time to wonder if he was intruding on a private and quiet moment the archangel really needed, before Gabriel spoke.

“Hey Sambo,” the archangel asked in a nearly cheerful tone, turning his head to look at Sam, “How are you holding up?”

The younger Winchester still thought that the archangel looked uncharacteristically tired, but other than that his appearance was back to normal.

“I was about to ask you the same,” Sam smiled slightly, sitting on the porch next to Gabriel. Somehow, the cold was by far less noticeable all of a sudden and the younger Winchester couldn’t help, but wonder if the archangel had something to do with it. Actually, Sam was sure that Gabriel had something to do with it. The real question was if the archangel had used his powers to make sure the younger Winchester wasn’t cold or if Gabriel’s presence alone had done the trick.

“Tough luck, I asked first,” the archangel retorted, giving Sam a playful grin. For a moment Gabriel’s eyes sparkled the way the younger Winchester liked to see. Sam considered just playing along and getting into a mock argument about who had to answer first, but unfortunately, there were serious matters they had to talk about.

“You had to fight Raphael…” Sam started to say before he was interrupted. To be honest, the younger Winchester hadn’t expected Gabriel to make this easy for him. If their roles had been reversed, Sam probably wouldn’t have been too keen on talking about it either.

“And you had to make sure you were even born,” Gabriel stated in a gentle tone. All playfulness was gone again, replaced by concern. “I know you, Sam, you’ve been over thinking Anna’s plan since you first heard of it.”

In all honesty, the archangel didn’t know if Anna’s plan to kill John and Mary to prevent their children from being born had any chance of success. Gabriel doubted that Michael and Lucifer would have left them dead, no matter how much effort Anna might have put into scattering their atoms all over the universe. The fact that Michael had intervened before things had ever gone that far, spoke for itself.

However, Gabriel knew that Sam would consider that the possibility would have been better for everyone, if he had never been born and it was something the archangel had to concern himself with. Apparently, wanting the younger Winchester to be happy was one of those impossible wishes and it was just like Gabriel to hang his heart on one of those.

“I… okay, yes, I thought about it. Who wouldn’t?” Sam admitted with a sheepish smile.

“Sam,” Gabriel sighed, trying to find the right way to tell the younger Winchester that he shouldn’t ever think like that. Sam was important in ways he didn’t even realize, ways that had nothing to do with becoming anyone’s vessel or hunting monsters.

“No, let me finish,” the younger Winchester stated decisively, holding up his hand as a sign that he was serious about speaking on, uninterrupted, “I thought about it, but then… I thought of something you told me. I’m more than the sum of my mistakes, right? There are things I’ve done that were good and undoing them would be bad for a lot of people.”

Gabriel gaped at Sam for a few long moments before his face broke into a bright grin. It probably was a stupid thing to be proud of, but the younger Winchester really liked that he had put that look on the archangel’s face. Of course, it had helped that Anna hadn’t simply wanted to erase Sam from existence, but that John, Mary, Adam and most of all, Dean’s existences had also been at stake. The younger Winchester liked to think that he would have come to the same conclusion, even if that hadn’t been the case, though.

“Look at that, a Winchester who listens to what you tell him! I knew there was a reason you’re my favorite,” Gabriel laughed, bumping his shoulder against Sam’s upper arm amicably. The archangel failed to notice that he instinctively kept closer to the younger Winchester once he had established contact. They weren’t quite touching, but they were noticeably closer than before.

“So?” Sam asked after a couple of moments, “Your turn.”

Even if Gabriel didn’t want to talk about these things, the archangel seemed tired and that alone gave Sam a reason to worry. The younger Winchester wanted to know if the fact that Gabriel had to fight his brother had shaken him or if there were any physical wounds the archangel was trying to keep from them. Sam would try to make things better either way, but to help Gabriel, he first had to know what was going on.

“I thought we already established that Raphael is the one who got his ass handed to him,” Gabriel replied with a forced grin, “So much for being the Winchester who listens.”

The archangel clicked his tongue in mock disappointment, bumping his shoulder against Sam’s once again. Gabriel decided to blame the younger Winchester for the archangel’s sudden and very intense wish to just get wrapped up in Sam’s arms and stay there until he felt completely fine again. Gabriel had done pretty well avoiding mental images like that until Sam had sent his not so little wet dream his way.

Now that the picture was there, the archangel couldn’t deny that he wanted these things. He wanted the kisses, the whispered declarations of love, the physical closeness… Of course, it was wrong to think like that when Sam was only suffering the after-effects of a little kid crush that would go away sooner or later. Gabriel had used every bit of will not act on these impulses, no matter how much he wanted to.

“You look tired,” the younger Winchester stated matter-of-factly, before he sighed helplessly, “I just want to help you.”

“It’s been a long day,” Gabriel allowed, giving the younger Winchester a small smile. The archangel didn’t know what came over him, but the words left his mouth before he could stop them. “If you really want to do something for me, you could take better care of yourself.”

There was silence between them for a few long moments after the archangel finished his statement. Sam tried to follow Gabriel’s train of thoughts, but he wasn’t sure he could do it. The younger Winchester was clearly missing a part of the story. Hell, he had felt like he was missing a part of the story since Gabriel had appeared in their motel room. Maybe it was time to find out what the archangel hadn’t shared with the class yet.

“I... I think you’ve got something backward there,” Sam replied, looking at Gabriel in a way that made perfectly clear that he was waiting for an explanation. The younger Winchester would have liked to say that he was all too willing to take better care of himself if that was what it took to make the archangel happy, but it wasn’t like he got himself hurt or killed on purpose. Sam didn’t exactly enjoy all of that himself, after all. Besides, by the time Gabriel had seen them again, the younger Winchester had already been alive and fully healed.

“I felt it when you died, Sam,” the archangel explained reluctantly. Gabriel took his amulet out from under his shirt and rubbed it between his fingers before he went on talking, “The line just went dead and… I don’t want that to ever happen again.”

Actually, the line had snapped with enough force to nearly knock the archangel off his feet, but Sam didn’t need to know that. Some day Gabriel would have to tell the younger Winchester about the deep connection between the archangel’s grace and the human’s soul that the amulet had established, but this was neither the time nor the place. Ideally they’d get a calm moment that wasn’t emotionally charged that would allow Gabriel to explain how a connection like that had been the best way to make sure that nobody else could ever use their private line and thus, also couldn’t use it against them. It wasn’t like it had to mean anything else.

“Gabriel, I…” Sam mumbled, swallowing heavily in the hope to dislodge the lump in his throat. The younger Winchester wanted to tell the archangel that he felt the same, that there were only a couple of people Sam just couldn’t imagine living without and Gabriel was one of them. That the archangel obviously felt the same way about him made the younger Winchester feel warm all over and gave him some hope that he wasn’t the only one with unspoken, deeper feelings.

“I can’t lose you, munchkin,” Gabriel stated with conviction, his golden eyes fixed on Sam’s green ones before the younger Winchester could find the courage or the right words to speak.

Sam forced himself to smile, even though he felt like he had just been subjected to a cold shower. Of course, the archangel still viewed him as that little kid. Of course, Gabriel wanted to protect him, because of the friendship he had with little Sammy. Of course, Sam had been too stupid to see it before. The archangel had never stopped calling him by the nickname he had come up with exclusively for Sam’s much younger self, but the younger Winchester hadn’t attached any deeper meaning to it until that moment. It scared Sam how close he had come to just blurting out his feelings for Gabriel, just to have them shot down.

“I’ll do my best,” the younger Winchester finally promised, trying to distract from his fake smile by hugging the archangel for a few long moments. Luckily, it seemed that Gabriel was either worn out enough to not notice or let it slip.

When the younger Winchester went back inside a couple of minutes later he still couldn’t shake the disappointment, but resolved to be content with what he had. Gabriel was a good friend, a better friend than Sam had ever had and if that was all he was ever going to be, it was still pretty damn good. It just was too bad that a big part of Sam wanted more.


	19. Chapter 19

**18**

 

Adam hadn’t planned to snoop around. No really, he hadn’t. The youngest Winchester brother had merely left Tarot behind with one of his clocks in the living room to get himself a sandwich or some other little snack. It wasn’t Adam’s fault that Gabriel and Castiel were having a conversation in the dining room and that he had to pass them by on his way to the kitchen.

“Remember, Castiel, don’t let it get that far again,” the archangel stated in a lecturing tone, just loud enough for Adam to hear through the door that hadn’t been properly closed, “I can give you a power-up no problems.”

Adam’s feet stopped moving automatically. He knew that listening in on talks that weren’t meant for his ears wasn’t polite, but Team Free Will didn’t have the best track record when it came to giving him information he might need on their own, so conveniently overhearing something sounded like it was only fair. Besides, Gabriel and Castiel were angels, if they really didn’t want anybody to know what they were talking about, they would have taken precautions.

“I did not wish to bother you,” Castiel admitted in a nearly sheepish tone. However, the seraph had to admit that not wanting to confess to his own weakness had played a part too. Most of all, Castiel didn’t want Dean to know how far he had fallen. The older Winchester had the tendency not to take the angel serious as things were, if Dean came to know that Castiel wasn’t the soldier he used to be, the seraph feared that the human would ban him to the sidelines. Looking at the other two members of their team who were unfit to fight –namely Adam and Tarot- being reassigned to staying at Bobby Singer’s for whatever tasks they thought he could still do seemed like an all too real threat to Castiel.

“Right, ‘cause it doesn’t bother me at all to see you all drained,” Gabriel huffed, giving his brother a hard stare.

At that point, Adam continued walking to the kitchen, a thoughtful expression on his face. A plan was forming in his mind, but he would need a little assistance from his older brother for it. Had the youngest brother known what the angels were going to discuss next, he would have been tempted to stay for sure, but as things were Adam had gathered some useful information and that was good enough for him.

“If it helps with remembering to take a little care of yourself, I’ll need your help to finish the spell,” Gabriel added in a softer tone a moment later. The archangel was sure that there was nobody around to overhear their conversation anymore and he had to let Castiel in on the bigger picture sometime, anyway. That moment wasn’t any better or worse than any other.

Gabriel didn’t intend to reveal the full extent of his plans or even all too much of them to Castiel just yet, but he had to start preparing his little brother for the task at hand.

“I do not understand,” Castiel admitted with a deep frown. The angel doubted that there were any spells in existence that a seraph could work when an archangel couldn’t. It also was unheard of that an archangel specifically needed to work with a seraph to accomplish something. Of course, the archangels delegated things to other angels all the time, but Gabriel made it sound like Castiel’s assistance would be vital.

“All in good time, bro,” the archangel replied with a smile, wrapping an arm around his brother’s shoulders amicably, “For now, you just need to know that before all this is over I’m going to ask you to do something.”

Castiel’s frown got a little deeper still after hearing that, but he didn’t protest. They were on the same side, so the seraph didn’t see a reason to say no to anything Gabriel might ask of him. At least, not before he had heard what it was he was meant to do.

“And Cassy, don’t tell any of the others,” the archangel added seriously, “The time for them to know will come, but not yet.”

 

* * *

 

 

As it turned out, the person Adam had decided he wanted to talk to was working at the kitchen table when he walked in. It didn’t look like Sam would leave the room anytime soon, so the youngest brother took a little more time than strictly necessary to prepare his peanut butter and jelly sandwich while he tried to figure out how to approach the topic. Speaking to Sam shouldn’t be too hard. The two of them hadn’t spoken much this far, but when they talked the conversations went much better than they ever did with Dean.

“Sam? You got a minute?” Adam asked a moment later, leaning against the kitchen counter with his sandwich in hand. He was looking for a casual conversation between brothers and maybe a little favor, no need to make a bigger deal out of it than it had to be.

“Uh… yeah… sure. Shoot,” Sam replied with a smile, turning around to look at Adam. To tell the truth, the younger Winchester could use every distraction from his own musings he could get. No matter what Sam tried to work on –signs for the appearance of the horsemen that very moment- his thoughts always went back to Gabriel. To tell the truth, the younger Winchester had never known how hard it could be to deal with unrequited feelings.

“Am I disturbing something?” Adam asked, cocking an eyebrow. It was quite obvious that Sam was distracted, even though he hadn’t seemed to have worked on the documents scattered around the table all that intensively.There was a notable lack of notes written about in Sam’s chicken scratch and he had been staring blankly at the same page since Adam entered the room.

“No… no, I was just…” the younger Winchester was quick to assure his brother. Sam didn’t know how to finish the statement though. It didn’t sound like the brightest idea to admit that he had just been thinking of all the reasons why an archangel like Gabriel could never love Sam the way he wished he would. The younger Winchester thought he was damn lucky that Gabriel even liked him the way he did. Actually, Sam considered sending Tarot a hamper full of clocks for simply getting them into the situation which had led to the archangel’s attachment to the younger Winchester. That thought was ridiculous, of course.

“Brooding,” Adam finished Sam’s statement for him. It had taken some time –alright, a shamefully long time- before Adam had been able to think of Sam and Dean as his brothers without wanting to bash his own head in over the mountain of family issues that came with them, but now that he was over all that he could admit brooding was a family trait they all shared. Hell, even though Adam only knew John as the guy showing up once a year to take him to a baseball game, he had still noticed that his father was the brooding type.

“I… yeah… I guess you could say so,” Sam admitted with a shrug. There was no use trying to deny it. The fact that the younger Winchester had been brooding alone didn’t tell Adam anything that he shouldn’t know anyway.

“I swear, one day we’ll need a psychiatrist on the team,” Adam quipped, chuckling. There was a lot of truth in the joke, but the young man understood how unlikely it was that there even was a psychiatrist who was qualified to deal with hunters. In fact, Bobby had at one point mentioned that it could be very hard to even find a doctor you could go to with the typical injuries being a hunter brought along with it and that most preferred to patch themselves up, as long as that was possible. As things were, Adam didn’t think he’d get into a position where he’d get to be around wounded hunters, but he had chosen to brush up his knowledge on first aid and medicine in general.

“Need? Maybe. Want? No,” Sam huffed out a laugh. The experiences they had made with psychiatrists or psychologists hadn’t been the best, but the younger Winchester could admit that they were quite the dysfunctional bunch in many respects. Then again, compared to other hunters they weren’t really messed up any more than most… maybe a little more messed up than most. Sam had sure messed up more than most, but that was another topic he wasn’t willing to think about.

“Fair enough,” Adam replied with a shrug, before he decided to get to the topic he actually wanted to discuss, “Anyway, you… you’re kinda close to Gabriel, right?”

Sam opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again without saying anything. He was definitely close to Gabriel, only not quite as close at he wanted to be. Sam thought it had to be typical Winchester luck that Adam wanted to talk about the archangel of all things when Sam wanted to talk about almost anything but. In the end, the younger Winchester settled for scratching his neck and gave an awkward shrug.

“Close enough to ask him for a favor?” Adam prompted when he didn’t get a clear answer from his older brother. It was by no means Adam’s business, but he couldn’t help drawing conclusions from Sam’s avoidance of the topic. He also couldn’t help, but wonder if Dean had noticed. However, Adam wasn’t going to touch that subject with a ten foot pole. It was hard enough to have a civil conversation with his oldest brother as things were, no need to add fuel to the fire then throw in some dynamite just to make sure the damage was as catastrophic.

“Oh… I guess,” Sam stated, nodding thoughtfully. This far, there hadn’t been anything to suggest that Gabriel wouldn’t do the younger Winchester a favor –actually, pretty much any kind of favor- if he asked. Whatever Adam wanted to get done just had to be reasonable enough for Sam to pass it on to the archangel.

“Look, it’s not for me, it’s for Terry,” Adam explained, raising his arms defensively for a moment. His brother hadn’t given him any reasons to believe that Sam would assume the worst of him from the question, but it couldn’t hurt to give some additional information to get him on board with what Adam wanted. “He’s hurt and not healing well. I thought Gabriel could help with that.”

Tarot hated to talk about the things that had been done to him, but Adam had been able to uncover bits and pieces over time. What touched Adam the most was knowing, even if Tarot had made it out alive and was trying hard to build a life for himself, the damage done to his wings –and most likely to other parts of his body, even though Tarot hadn’t said it out loud- always served as a reminder of all the things they had done to him. The seraph’s psychological scars were another topic entirely, but Adam liked to believe that some of them would at least heal a little more easily once the physical wounds were dealt with.

“He already tried, but Tarot didn’t react well to it,” Sam sighed, shrugging apologetically, “He had one of his freak outs when Gabriel tried to touch him.”

The younger Winchester fully believed that the archangel would love to help his little brother out, but Gabriel probably needed a clear sign that Tarot was okay with it first. To tell the truth, a part of Sam wondered why the archangel hadn’t simply overpowered the seraph and healed him, no matter what he thought of it. Not that the younger Winchester thought that it would have been a good thing to do, but it would have been within Gabriel’s possibilities. In fact, it would have been the easiest option for the archangel, other than ignoring the issue completely. It said a lot about Gabriel’s character and about his willingness to be a real team-player that he wasn’t taking the easy route lately. It also said a lot about Sam’s stupid, out of control crush that his heart beat just a little bit faster thinking of all these things.

“We can work on that,” Adam retorted with conviction. He fully understood that Tarot didn’t want anyone to touch him, but the angel had to see reason when a simple touch could help him be free of the pain his wings caused him. Adam was sure that he could convince his friend to give it a try at least. Tarot usually was easy enough to reason with and it was only about ridding him of physical pain, not about doing any more brainwashing, even if it might have been with good intentions in this case. Adam would make sure that everyone involved understood that.

“Good luck,” Sam smiled at his younger brother. It looked like Adam had found his own personal mission and it clearly did him some good. Their youngest brother might have only initially agreed to stay temporarily, but it seemed he had found a reason to stick around or rather the reason had found him.

“Hey Adam, I’m glad you decided to stay. I… I know we don’t know each other well, but I hope we can change that some day,” Sam added before Adam could leave the kitchen. The younger Winchester hadn’t ever let his little brother know how much it meant to him to have the chance to get to know the real Adam and this moment was just as good as any other, if not better.

“Thanks, Sam,” Adam replied a little sheepishly, “I’d be lying if I said that this is how I pictured my life, but it could have been worse and you guys are… growing on me.”

Sure, Dean was overly bossy half the time and Sam was busy with his own issues, but they weren’t half as bad as Adam had originally thought. Of course, Raphael hadn’t painted a favorable picture of the two when he had spoken to Adam before his resurrection. The young man was only just starting to understand how much the archangel had twisted the truth just to get him to cooperate, though.

“Don’t let Dean hear that,” Sam joked. What Adam had said probably didn’t count as too emotional in Dean’s book, but you never knew. Not to mention that Dean and Adam had managed to argue over less important things before. Hell, at one point the two of them had an argument over cheese and ham sandwiches.

“No chick-flick moments,” Adam stated in a gruff tone, speaking in the deepest timbre he was capable of to imitate Dean’s voice.

Sam couldn’t have stopped himself from laughing if he had wanted to. The younger Winchester really could use a good laugh after all the brooding and –admitted- angsting he had done. The best thing was that Adam was laughing along too.


	20. Chapter 20

**19**

 

It took hours of peace and quiet combined with a bottomless bowl of candy for Gabriel to feel completely alright again. Luckily, Raphael hadn’t gotten a good hit in, so all the damage done to Gabriel had been superficial and easy enough to heal, even those less obvious to the human eye.

The archangel couldn't say that he liked having to fight his older brother, but things had undeniably worked out for the best anyway. Ideally, Gabriel and Balthazar would have gotten out of heaven before Otheos woke, but it hadn't ever been likely that things would play out like that. At least, Raphael and Michael knew that Gabriel was a force to be reckoned with and it would probably make them consider their next steps more carefully. Hopefully the careful planning would stall them long enough for Gabriel to get his spell together.

To be on the safe side, the archangel decided to go through Bobby Singer's library instead of getting a couple more hours of rest. They needed to get their hands on the Philosopher's Stone, which was the one thing on the list with unknown whereabouts. At least, Gabriel didn't know where the thing was, but he hoped to find some clues in old myths.

“Jeez, Sambo, did you even go to bed?” the archangel exclaimed, when the sight of the younger Winchester mulling over some documents at the kitchen table pulled him out of his own musings. Every other human around the house was fast asleep, but of course Sam was up at impossible hours of the night. Gabriel shouldn't have been surprised, especially since he knew that even an eight year old Sammy had hardly managed to sleep through the night.

“I… uh…” the younger Winchester struggled to come up with something to reply that wouldn't sound completely pathetic, “I am just… looking up stuff.”

The truth was that Sam just couldn't get the wheels in his mind to stop spinning and that any attempt to sleep would have been futile, anyway. Telling Gabriel about it would only lead to questions about what exactly left Sam so restless and that was something the younger Winchester didn't want to discuss with the archangel. Period.

“U-huh, ‘course you are,” Gabriel replied with a slight grin. The archangel sat on the tabletop, his feet on the chair next to Sam's and his elbows on his knees as he gave the younger Winchester an inquisitive look. “Do you even know what book’s in front of you?”

The way Sam looked down, his eyes finally focusing to actually take a good look at the book told the archangel everything he needed to know. Not that the younger Winchester's claim had been all that believable before.

“What’s going on in that big brain of yours?” Gabriel asked in a gentle tone. The archangel's unusual vantage point gave him the chance to look down at Sam, be taller than him again for once. In a strange way, it was like the younger Winchester was a kid again and Gabriel the -more or less- responsible adult looking after him and making sure that Sam didn't get too lost in his own thoughts.

“Just thinking,” the younger Winchester shrugged, not quite meeting the archangel's eyes. Sam knew that he could keep a pretty tight lid on the things he let Gabriel know through their amulets, but there was no doubt that the archangel would look right through him, if the younger Winchester tried to lie to his face.

“You don’t say?” Gabriel remarked sarcastically and clicked his tongue ina mixture of mocking and disappointment. The archangel probably wasn't the most sensitive person ever, but he felt clear as day that something was standing between him and Sam. Something that hadn't been there a day ago.It just wasn’t at all clear what.

"It's been a long day," the younger Winchester admitted. Sam knew that Gabriel wouldn't let him get away without giving some explanation. There were a couple things the younger Winchester simply couldn't say, especially to the archangel, but there were a few he could share. Hopefully it would be enough. "You and Balthazar got the Holy Grail. You fought Raphael."

Gabriel nodded slightly in understanding. It had been a stressful day for all of them, really. The archangel didn't believe that knowing -after everything had already been said and done- he had to fight one of his older brothers got Sam this restless, though. Especially when he came out of it fairly unscathed.

"The whole mess with Anna," the younger Winchester added, looking up to meet Gabriel's eyes at last, "I mean, time travel is pretty crazy, even for us."

Sam frowned after he stopped speaking, only then realizing how true what he had just said was. With everything else going on, the younger Winchester hadn't found the time to deal with his and Dean's adventure.

“I met my mom for the first time today,” Sam mumbled, as if the fact had only just sunk in, “I mean, really met her, talked to her, interacted with her. Not that she was my mother then… it’s all just complicated.”

Gabriel smiled slightly and nodded along with what the younger Winchester was telling him. It made a lot of sense that meeting Mary Winchester alive and in person would leave a great impression on her youngest son. The archangel didn't have a mother, but if God ever decided to show his face again, Gabriel couldn't imagine what it would feel like to see Him.

“Dad went into hunting because of her and he always… always reminded us that we were doing it for mom, but I never had memories of her until today,” Sam added quietly, swallowing heavily around the lump in his throat. The younger Winchester didn't dare say that he would have found it easier to accept the hunter lifestyle, had he had memories of their mother, but he thought it would have helped him understand his father better. As things were, Sam had always felt like John was chasing a ghost and not one of the regular and genuine ones they hunted for a living, but one of those that didn't exist and only lead people on wild goose chases. All of a sudden the ghost of Mary Winchester had become all too real and tangible to Sam, though.

“You’re wrong,” Gabriel stated after a short moment of consideration, “You knew her for six months. The memories are there, stored away safely. You just don’t know how to read them anymore.”

“How is that different?” Sam asked, confusion written all over his face. The younger Winchester had heard theories before that even the youngest children formed permanent memories. Apparently, memories formed in the pre-speech development stage were still present, but pretty much inaccessible once you started to think and remember in words. However, the younger Winchester didn't think that Gabriel only wanted to be a smartass, there had to be something more behind his comment.

“I can’t give you memories you never had,” the archangel explained, leaning closer to Sam before he added in a conspiratorial whisper, “But I can unlock the ones you have.”

In theory, Gabriel could make Sam remember whatever he wanted him to remember. He could have given the younger Winchester memories of his mother being there for his first day of school with ease, but they obviously wouldn't have been real and Gabriel didn't think that Sam would appreciate that. Seeing how many of infant Sam's memories were still there and could be uncovered was a different thing altogether.

“You mean I really could remember?” the younger Winchester asked a little uncertain. The look on his face gave away how much he wanted to believe that it was true though. Of course, remembering Mary wouldn't change anything about the fact that she was not with them. Remembering his mother might actually make the fact that she had been long dead and gone harder to handle and Sam knew it. However, even knowing how it had ended the younger Winchester wouldn't trade the memories he had of Jessica -the good and the bad- for anything and he figured it would be the same with any memories of his mother Gabriel could give him.

“Whatever made it into baby Sammy’s long term memory,” the archangel confirmed. There was one little detail Sam had to be made aware of first before they did anything. “But I’ve got to warn you, I won’t filter the memories. It’ll be the good and the bad.”

In theory, Gabriel could have screened the memories before giving the younger Winchester access to them. He could keep everything bad or anything that might be distressing away and only show Sam the parts that were undoubtedly pleasant to know about. However, the archangel didn't like the idea of invading the taller man's privacy like that and then walk away with more information than Sam. Not to mention that Gabriel was sure Sam wouldn't want that anyway.

“Yes, sure, that’s okay,” the younger Winchester replied, nodding so eagerly it made the archangel smile. Sam was sure by the look the archangel gave him that they weren't done discussing the matter yet, so he was surprised when Gabriel simply scooted a little closer on the table and reached for his forehead.

The younger Winchester didn't know what he had expected exactly, but he had been prepared for a sudden and painful flash of memories or something alike. What actually happened was that Sam's head felt a little fuller, for a lack of better words to describe the sensations he was experiencing with. The best comparison the younger Winchester could come up with was that of trying to cram several months' worth of knowledge into his brain in time for an exam. In a way, that was exactly what had happened to his mind, too.

For a moment Sam wasn't sure if what Gabriel had done achieved anything, but give the younger Winchester a mild headache. As soon as the thought how nice it could have been to have any actual memories of his mother crossed Sam's mind he was assaulted by a progression of images that were completely new to him.

"Easy, Sambo," Gabriel stated in a soothing tone when it looked like the younger Winchester was getting overwhelmed by new impressions. The archangel reached out and put his hand on the taller man's shoulder to ground him before he instructed, "Try to focus on one and hold on to it."

Sam took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to get back to one picture that had grabbed his attention most. Mary was smiling and looking directly at him. The younger Winchester didn't know how old he was exactly or even where they were, but he felt safe and happy in his mother's arms. All in all, it was exactly the kind of memory Sam had hoped to get out of this.

"Like what you see?" Gabriel asked a few moments later, even though the younger Winchester's expression told him everything he needed to know anyway. Sam was smiling softly, keeping his eyes closed even as he nodded.

The archangel was ready to leave the taller man to his newfound memories when he suddenly felt the younger Winchester's hand on his. Gabriel only got a second to wonder what this was all about, before pictures of Mary Winchester along with corresponding emotions filled his mind. The impressions of a baby just a few weeks old were moving, but what really got to the archangel was the fact that Sam was willing to share them with him.

"Thank you," the younger Winchester whispered, squeezing Gabriel's hand for a few long moments.

The archangel smiled widely, ruffling Sam's hair as soon as the younger Winchester released his hand. In that moment things between them were alright, their connection open and filled with positive emotions. Gabriel knew that not all issues between them were solved, but having a moment like this gave him hope that they could deal with everything else in good time.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep?" the archangel suggested, hopping off the table, "I really should get on with my search for the Philosopher's Stone and you are distracting me."

Sam huffed out a laugh and shook his head fondly. The younger Winchester didn't think that it was fair to accuse him of distracting Gabriel, when thoughts of the archangel had kept Sam from doing anything productive all day, but he couldn't deny that he felt tired. Chances were that he would lie awake trying to go through all the new memories now open to him, but that actually didn't sound half bad either. Sam had gotten a glimpse of a little Dean with a teddy bear earlier and that probably was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Uh, don't know if it helps," the younger Winchester said before Gabriel could leave the room, "And I know... working with demons, not a great idea... but Crowley had the Colt and he seemed the type to have his fingers in a lot of things like that."

It was obvious that Crowley was on their side at least as far as getting Lucifer out of the picture was concerned, so it didn't seem too unlikely that the demon would share any knowledge on the Philosopher's Stone he might possess with them. Then again, working with demons had never done them any good before. In fact, the last time they had worked with Crowley, Ellen and Jo had paid for it.

"Crowley, huh?" Gabriel asked, smirking like he thought of a joke Sam wasn't in on, "I haven't seen the old crook in quite some time."

Thinking about it, it was quite likely that Crowley knew something about the stone or at least knew of someone who did. In the very least there was nothing to lose by summoning the demon and asking a couple questions.

"You... uh... know Crowley?" Sam frowned deeply. Of course, thinking of his self-imposed witness protection program, it seemed nearly logical that Gabriel would have come across the king of the crossroads at least once, but the look on the archangel's face suggested that he knew the demon better than that.

"You could say we had a business relationship for a while," Gabriel shrugged, "I'm not overly proud of it, but I pointed a few people who I thought really deserved it his way."

In fact, the part of his dealings with Crowley, the archangel really wasn't proud of, was the part where the younger Winchester would disapprove of them. Gabriel stood by his opinion that there were some humans who deserved nothing better than eternal hellfire, but he understood that it wasn't a topic Sam would take lightly. There was no way to get into a serious conversation about it with the younger Winchester, without touching on very sensitive topics.

"I guess... he owes you then?" the younger Winchester replied and surprised Gabriel tremendously with it. The grin was back on the archangel's face full force as he patted Sam's back proudly.

"I really like the way you think, kiddo."


	21. Chapter 21

**20**

 

"It is ironic, and dare I say ridiculous, that we meet up more often now that I know you are one of those heavenly pests," Crowley stated in his trademark snobbish tone. The demon had a glass of whiskey the archangel had been friendly enough to supply him with -after Crowley had declined the milkshake he had been offered first- in his hand as he looked out of the window of the apartment located somewhere in New Orleans Gabriel had summoned him to.

"If it helps you feel better, Crowley, you've given me nothing but attitude this far," Gabriel replied with a light shrug. The archangel suspected that the demon had in fact done things that made him deserving of his title as collaborator already, but it wasn't like Crowley had told him anything about it this far. For all Gabriel knew, the demon had done nothing but complain about the fact that he was working with an angel without actually doing anything they agreed on.

"You should be grateful I am talking to you at all! I am a hunted man, thanks to dumb and dumber!" Crowley huffed, his voice getting louder and more expressive as it tended to do when he got annoyed, "They have been looking for me all over! They ate my tailor!"

There were a thousand more inconveniences the demon had to put up with since he had foolishly decided to help the Winchesters out, but Crowley didn't think mentioning any of those would do him any good. After all he was talking to a person who had to give up a cozy life as a pagan trickster god to step into the line of fire between his two older brothers. Crowley wasn't the kind to give credit to someone for being -utterly stupidly- brave, but he could acknowledge that the archangel had made sacrifices that could possibly compare to the demon's own.

"I thought you looked different," Gabriel remarked with a slight smirk, before he put as much sincerity as he could muster up back into his voice, "It's a shame too, the man was good."

The archangel hadn't summoned the demon to one of his many hideouts to discuss fashion, but sometimes Crowley was the type who needed to vent before he could get down to business. Gabriel wasn't opposed to making some small talk anyway, he had enough patience to listen to some of the demon's complaints. He had already waited for weeks to get the information he needed, what were another few minutes?

"Oh bite me," Crowley shot back, taking a swig of his drink. He was going to need more whiskey to get through this meeting, if it took any longer. Loki always had the tendency to grate on his nerves when they talked for longer than a few minutes, but it had gotten worse since the demon knew that Loki was in fact Gabriel. Granted, Crowley had by far less tolerance for angels than for pagan gods.

"Careful what you ask for, Crowles, I might just take you up on the offer," Gabriel retorted without missing a beat, giving Crowley a borderline flirty look for good measure.

"Aren't you a barrel of laughs?" the demon snorted. However, Crowley had to admit that he nearly choked on his drink for a second. Sometimes it wasn't easy to tell if the archangel was serious or joking. The very thought of the archangel making a pass at the -former- king of the crossroads was a good enough reason to suffocate on a mouthful of whiskey, Crowley thought.

"I'll stop making fun of you the moment you give me something worthwhile we can discuss instead," Gabriel shrugged. Apparently, the offer was good enough for the demon to finally start talking about the reason they had a meeting at all.

 

* * *

 

 

"You guys suck," Adam groaned, just barely keeping himself from stomping or hitting Dean's car in frustration. The first would have made him look like a little kid and he really didn't want to give his brothers any more reason to treat him like he was just a child. The second would have been a good way to start another war with Dean and that wasn't what Adam desired either. He simply wanted to go with the two on their newest mission to get out of the house for a day or two.

Not that Adam didn't like being around Bobby's and it really wasn't about getting away from Tarot, but the youngest Winchester simply wasn't the kind of guy who could stay locked up for long without getting antsy. In fact, being grounded for a couple of days at a time had always been bad enough punishment for Adam to consider repeating whatever he did to deserve to be grounded in the first place very carefully. He had been on lockdown at Bobby's place for weeks now and it was starting to feel unbearable.

"Wait, you're supposed to be eighteen, right?" Dean asked, giving his youngest brother a hard stare before he went on talking, "Stop acting like a whiny brat then."

They had explained to Adam over and over that the angels were probably still waiting for a chance to get their hands on him and it was a chance they couldn't take, but apparently the little shit just didn't get it. Of course, if anybody had tried to tell Dean that he had to stay on lockdown for an undefined amount of time, the older Winchester would have completely lost his cool within minutes, but that was something completely different and didn't compare to Adam's situation at all!

"Blow me, Dean," Adam snorted, turning away from his oldest brother demonstratively to speak to Sam instead, "C'mon, I'm not asking for much! I'm getting cabin fever in there!"

It could have been perfect, too. The case his two older brothers were working on was just outside of Sioux Falls, so they probably wouldn't be gone for long. Adam could have tagged along and been back with Tarot before the seraph had time to miss him too much. Terry could handle a day or two without him, Adam was sure. Hell, he had managed for months before Adam had even come into the picture.

"Next time, Adam, promise," Sam replied in a gentle but serious tone. They could find a simple salt and burn -or better yet, some activity that had nothing to do with the supernatural- after they were done with investigating the strange murder-suicide, or double-suicide, double-murder, Bobby had told them about that morning.

"I'm holding you to that, man," Adam replied suspiciously, but without any heat in his voice. Sam's promise was good enough for him, but his older brother shouldn't think that he'd get away with saying 'next time' again.

"Great, Sam, that's just great," Dean groaned as soon as Adam had went back into the house. The oldest Winchester hadn't had any inclination to give in to their youngest brother's demands, but of course Sam just had to go and make a promise like that. It was bad enough that they were walking around with big, glowing targets on their backs all the time and that Adam had one of his own, but they could at least make sure that he stayed hidden and safe. To be honest, Dean wouldn't say that there was much love lost between him and his youngest brother, but he still wanted to keep the kid safe and make sure that his second shot at life didn't end like his first.

"You know he's right," Sam replied reasonably, getting into the Impala and closing the door just as Dean did the same, "We've been keeping him locked up for weeks."

Adam seemed happy enough with his lot in life for the most part, but he had ever right to want more, in Sam's opinion. Of course, nobody ever got everything they wanted, but Adam's request had been reasonable. He had just made it at a bad moment and with the wrong case. Sam didn't want to get their brother into trouble any more than Dean did, but Adam wasn't the kind of person you could keep out of trouble, if he decided he wanted to dive head first into it. . All they could do was just make sure that the situation would be as controlled as possible.

"For his own protection!" Dean insisted, putting the car into drive and pulling out of Bobby's driveway, "Besides, he's got his angel buddy for company."

Honestly, the older Winchester often thought that Adam and Tarot were nearly eerily close these days, but he was far from complaining about that when it was what kept Adam out of his hair for the most part. Their youngest brother always was busy with the one or another project in some way involving the sandy-haired seraph. When Adam was busy, he couldn't get on Dean's nerves and when he didn't get on Dean's nerves, they didn't have to yell at each other and thus, didn't get on everybody else's nerves.

"I'm just saying that Adam will find a way to get what he wants anyway," Sam pointed out defensively, "I just thought it'd be better for everyone, if we were with him when he inevitably leaves the house."

Dean had to admit that his brother had a point there. Adam was a stubborn son of a bitch, after all. There had to be some harmless haunting somewhere close by they could deal with in a day or two. If they were lucky a run in with a ghost would even make Adam reconsider his wish to be involved in any of this.

"Whatever, we'll deal with that later," Dean huffed, before he shook his head slightly to focus on their new case, "What are we up against now?"

"I'm not sure," Sam admitted, looking at the police report and newspaper article Bobby had printed out for them earlier, "Whatever it is made this couple want to eat each other and -no Dean- not in a fun way."

Apparently, a man and a woman had randomly decided that instead of making out they would much rather eat each other until they both died. The details were quite horrifying, even with everything the Winchesters had faced before. Sam was glad that there were no pictures included to the report, even though they would have to take a closer look at the bodies sooner rather than later.

"Awesome, I love it when cases start out this disgusting already," Dean replied, pulling a face because of the mental picture his brother had just invoked, "First stop, coroner's office, then."

 

* * *

 

 

"So you're saying that some crossroad demon made a deal with an alchemist, the guy went to hell after ten years, but the Stone was never seen again?" Gabriel interrupted Crowley's tale when the demon just wouldn't get to the point fast enough for the archangel's liking. The king of the crossroads might have made quite the storyteller if he had chosen a different career part, but Gabriel wasn't interested in any details that only made the story more engaging, but didn't tell him any of the things he needed to know that moment.

"Some too ambitious for their own good demons tried to get Brand to spill the beans as soon as he was on the rack, of course. Allegedly, it didn't take too much persuasion to get the information out of him," Crowley went on speaking, more or less ignoring the archangel, "But none of the demons were ever seen again after trying to retrieve it."

Hennig Brand apparently hadn't been content with finding a way to produce phosphor -at the time quite the breakthrough- in his quest to find the Philosopher's Stone and had made a deal with a crossroad demon when he had felt that he would never reach his ultimate goal in his lifetime without the demon deal spell. Toward the end of the ten years given to him by default, Brand had realized that he was essentially screwed, inevitably going to hell at that point, but then decided that he could at least make sure that the Stone didn't fall back into demonic hands after his passing.

"Crowles, please tell me that this too ambitious demon got the information and is smart enough to hand it over instead of going for it himself," Gabriel interrupted once more. The archangel didn't doubt that he would be able to get his hands on the Philosopher's Stone, if only he knew where to go looking for it. A bunch of common demons failing didn't mean that an angel, let alone an archangel, couldn't do it after all.

"I did more than my part by summoning Brand and getting him to talk, everything else is up to you," Crowley replied with a shrug, finishing the last of his whiskey and putting the empty glass on the table before he retrieved a crudely drawn map from the inner pocket of his suit and handed it over to Gabriel.

It had been easy to get the former alchemist, now turned low-level demon to spill the beans. Too easy, in fact. Actually, the fact that Brand was willing enough to give up the information under minimal torture without ever trying to go and retrieve the treasure he had strived for all his life spoke for itself. The demon had to be sure that there was no way for him to ever get the stone again without paying a price he wasn't willing to pay. If the alchemist who had sold his immortal soul to get the Philosopher's Stone thought that going for the Stone again wasn't worth it, it surely wasn't worth it for Crowley. Not to mention that what the king of the crossroads wanted the most was to stop Lucifer and take his rightful position back, possibly with a bit of a promotion for the inconveniences he had gone through lately. All in all, giving Gabriel the information he wanted was the best play Crowley had.

"I'd kiss you, but you'd take that as a punishment," the archangel laughed, putting the map into his own pocket. The Philosopher's Stone had been the one thing on Gabriel's list that really had given him a headache. It wouldn't be easy to get the other ingredients still missing to complete the spell, but he at least knew exactly where to find them.

"Say we're even and keep your lips to yourself and I'll be a happy enough demon."


	22. Chapter 22

**21**

 

The map Crowley had given to Gabriel didn't look like much, but it was easy enough to follow and surprisingly accurate. It was easy enough to find the Víðgelmir cave in Iceland. Even though the place was still pretty far removed from anything and wasn't even open to the public anymore, some tourists still visited the cave every now and then. The place Gabriel was looking for was supposedly just a couple miles from Víðgelmir and had remained undiscovered over the ages.

The closer the archangel got to the unidentified cave, the clearer it became that there was magic in the air. Actually, if Gabriel hadn't known where to look, he might not have found the entrance to the unnamed cave for a good while. Whatever spell was at work was subtle enough not to raise a flaming red flag for beings sensitive to these things, but strong enough to keep the place hidden.

The archangel wasn't sure what to expect when he stepped through the entrance. The Philosopher's Stone wouldn't simply be lying around somewhere that much was for sure. Gabriel was prepared for all sorts of magic tricks, traps or monsters that could try to stand in his way, but coming face to face with a young looking woman still surprised him. In fact, what was most surprising was that there was no sign of aggression coming from the fair-haired woman. The archangel thought she gave off an aura that wasn't completely human, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what made her different.

"I'll stick out my neck on this one and say you're the keeper of the stone," Gabriel stated conversationally when the woman didn't say anything, after a few long moments of them staring at each other in silence. The archangel got the impression that she understood what he had said by the way the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, but that was the only reply he got.

"Not very talkative, are we?" Gabriel asked, raising an eyebrow as she simply turned around and began to walk deeper into the cave; only looking back over her shoulder to see if he was following once. The archangel shrugged and walked after her. It wasn't like he hadn't planned on going deeper into the cave anyway.

Gabriel couldn't help noticing they never passed by anything that looked remotely like a person was living there. Granted, it was entirely possible that there were side caves hidden even more secretively than the main cave, but the whole place was still peculiar. The archangel's kept a steady pace, not looking back again which Gabriel couldn't help thinking was grossly negligent. Then again, everything else about her wasn't quite right either. Her clothes clearly weren't modern, but they didn't look old either, she didn't have the complexion expected from a cave dweller and her long, blonde hair looked like she was spending a lot of money on styling products which was quite unlikely to be true. All in all, Gabriel was sure that there was more than met the eye about her, but it was mildly disturbing him that he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"That's some heavy magic you have there. So that's why all those demons were never seen again," the archangel said a little while later. Even a very one-sided conversation was better than the uncomfortable silence around the cave, especially since the wardings -that got heavier with every step they took- began to really affect him.

The woman turned around for a moment and pushed back the heavy coat she wore just enough to reveal the hilt of a sword with various runes and sigils carved into it. The corners of her mouth turned upward again and her eyes were clearly amused as she looked at Gabriel like she was asking him if that answered his unspoken question. The archangel couldn't help grinning back slightly and inclined his head in a gesture of respect. Not all demons had fallen victim to the magic of the place then.

The woman stopped walking just before the cave suddenly started to go deeper into the earth and seemed to widen. Gabriel still wasn't entirely sure how this was going to go down, but he was positive that he wasn't expected to fight his guide, which was a bit of a relief. He had just begun to kind of like her after all.

"I guess the Stone is down there then?" the archangel asked when the blonde woman didn't give any sign of wanting to move forward again, after a few long moments of more staring, "Anything I should know beforehand?"

Gabriel didn't honestly expect to get an answer to either one of his questions, but was surprised when the woman looked at him sympathetically and patted his shoulder once before inclining her head toward the part of the cave the archangel was supposed to go to.

"Thought so..."

 

* * *

 

 

"It's a human soul. It's starting to make sense," Castiel stated when a bright light had come out of the briefcase Sam had managed to get from the demon he had come across at the coroner's office. Their case had turned out to be horribly confusing after it had turned out that the cupid they had suspected at first was innocent. Looking for new clues, they had come across a lot more freaky incidences around the area in the past couple of days, but most of them had nothing to do with love-ruling other cupids out as main suspects.

"Yeah, Cas, makes a whole lot of sense," Dean snorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest for good measure, "About as much sense as you constantly stuffing your face with burgers."

The Winchester brothers looked at each other in confusion when the seraph only got another cheeseburger out of the paper bag and took a bite. Granted, Castiel had developed a liking for eggnog over Christmas, but other than that the seraph had never shown a great interest in any human food. In fact, the angel always claimed that he liked the things Dean made him try well enough, but that he simply didn't require sustenance. All in all, it didn't make sense for Castiel to be constantly munching on burgers and immediately getting new ones once he ran out. Apparently, the seraph had a different opinion on the matter though.

"Exactly," Castiel simply agreed, continuing to take huge bites out of his burger. If the seraph had paid closer attention he would have noticed the use of sarcasm in the Dean's statement, but he was a little preoccupied. However, Castiel was pleased to hear that the older Winchester had made the same connection between all the strange things going on around the place he had.

"Now you're just trying to screw with me," Dean groaned, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. One of these days the older Winchester would have to teach Castiel to just spill the beans if he had something to say, instead of making vague statements and then waiting to be asked to explain what the hell he had just talked about. It was likely that the seraph didn't even know he was doing it, but Dean still thought it would be good to get Cas to kick that habit.

"Cas, just explain what you're talking about, please," Sam stated when Castiel only looked confused after Dean's little outburst. The younger Winchester for once, el only looked confused after Dean's little outburst.t Dean still thought it would be good to get Cas to kdidn't have the patience to wait for Dean and Cas to find the right words to understand what the other wanted. Sam had been feeling strange all day long and he couldn't shake the bad feeling that it had to do with their case. The sooner they could solve this, the sooner the younger Winchester would feel like himself again. At least, he hoped so.

"The soul is a clue, so is my sudden hunger," Castiel explained what he thought had been obvious already. Apparently the seraph had misunderstood something, but he couldn't focus on trying to find where his mistake had been when he was meant to explain himself and was still distracted by his hunger for red meat. "This town is not suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect. It's suffering from hunger. Starvation, to be exact. Famine is in town."

As if to prove his point, Castiel unwrapped another burger and tore into it with as much gusto as he had the last twenty. The seraph knew that it was only due to Famine's influence that he couldn't control himself, but couldn't find the will to stop eating.

"Awesome, that's just awesome," Dean huffed, looking at Castiel worriedly even though he kept his tone and words flippant, "So what? You're going to eat burgers until you explode?"

Famine wasn't one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse for nothing. If the seraph was under his influence the situation was clearly very serious. They had to find a solution fast. The only good thing about this was that they needed Famine's ring anyway. However, it would have been better to face the horseman prepared instead of going in more or less blind.

"Don't be ridiculous Dean, angels do not explode from ingesting too much food," Castiel replied seriously, even as he threw another burger wrapper onto the growing pile on the floor. In fact, the seraph didn't even feel as if his stomach was getting full. Of course, Famine's influence kept his victims from ever feeling sated, but Castiel's grace was effectively counteracting any physical effects his binge eating might have had on his vessel. The angel still had to deal with the psychological effects, though.

"Okay, that's good news," Dean nodded relieved. They had some time then. Of course, Castiel had to get rid of the hunger he was obviously feeling sooner rather than later, but it didn't look like his life was in immediate danger. Hell, not even the angel's figure was in immediate danger apparently. All in all, things could have been much worse, but of course Castiel just had to speak on.

"It is however likely that, even if you are not feeling it yet, you are under Famine's spell already as well," the seraph stated with a frown, as if he had only just realized the reality of what he had said. There was no use denying that the hunger was distracting Castiel, but he was sure he still had things under control, to a reasonable extent at least.

"Great, that's a buzzkill," Dean sighed, looking around nervously. The older Winchester didn't think he felt any different than he would have normally felt under the circumstances, but he couldn't be completely sure. Dean was however sure that his younger brother didn't look fine. "You're looking a little green there, Sammy."

The older Winchester hoped that Sam was only feeling similarly insecure as Dean himself did that moment. Whatever his younger brother was feeling might strictly be a pseudo effect of Castiel's statement. Like somebody mentioning that their kid had lice and suddenly everyone around feeling like their scalps were itching even though there wasn't a single louse in the room. At the same time Dean didn't believe that they would be so lucky.

"It's just... I... I need..." Sam stammered before he ran to the tiny bathroom of their motel room, banging the door shut behind him just before he threw up. The strange feeling that had been following the younger Winchester all day suddenly made a whole lot of sense, but the realization of what was up with him made Sam feel sick.

The younger Winchester stood on wobbly legs, splashing cold water into his face. Why did Famine's influence have to reawaken the thirst for demon blood in him of all things? There were other things he wanted, things he even craved. Sam could admit -if only to himself- that he loved Gabriel and the fact that his love was unrequited was driving him crazy on the best of days. Something had to be fundamentally wrong with him. That was the only explanation Sam could find for the fact that his demon blood addiction obviously was stronger than his desire to be loved by the person he was in love with.

The younger Winchester drew a deep, shuddering breath and straightened his posture. His gaze landed on the mirror in front of him and while he could barely look at himself that moment his eyes landed on the amulet dangling from a leather cord around his neck. It had to have slipped from under his shirt when he leaned over the toilet.

"Help me," Sam whispered, grasping the amulet and squeezing it as hard as he could, "Please, help me."

 

* * *

 

 

Gabriel had to admit that walking through the cave by himself was even more unnerving than following his silent guide had been. The woman had a presence around her at least, something to distract the archangel from all the eerie magic in the air. It didn't help that Gabriel still didn't know what he was getting into. Sure, he was glad that the task at hand didn't include killing the blonde woman like he had thought it might for some time, but having to win a battle against the keeper of the Stone would have at least been a clear task.

The archangel's steps faltered when a feeling like he had pushed through an invisible curtain or a big spider's web hit him. Something was going on, even though Gabriel couldn't point his finger at what it was. The part of the cave he had apparently just entered didn't look any different than the rest of it did. It didn't even feel different, besides the short sensation of passing through something.

Gabriel sighed and pushed on. Standing around unmoving wouldn't get him anywhere. The second invisible curtain came soon after the first. This time the archangel considered turning back, just to see if the emotion would repeat itself walking into the opposite direction, but before he could do that a different set of feelings hit him.

"Sam!" Gabriel exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise and fear. Sam's urgent call for help was enough for make the archangel forget about his mission. He could come back some other time, but Sam needed Gabriel that moment. The archangel would gladly take the walk through the cave again -and possibly face a less friendly guide next time- if that meant that he could get to the younger Winchester in time to save him. With that thought firmly in mind, Gabriel pulled his grace together and transported himself out of the cave.

The archangel knew that something had gone wrong even before he saw the death and destruction around him.


	23. Chapter 23

**22**

 

Gabriel made his way to Bobby Singer's house, pointedly ignoring the rotting bodies in various states of decay littering the salvage yard. The archangel was sure that they weren't any more real than the smoking ruins of the city he could see in the distance. None of it could be real. Everything in Gabriel protested against the idea that he was still within the plane of existence and reality he usually inhabited. Given where he had been just a minute earlier, it didn't seem so unlikely that all this was nothing more than an elaborate illusion.

The archangel swallowed hard as he opened the front door. Everything around might have been fake, but seeing the house the archangel had spent an awful lot of time at as of late come apart at the seams, hit close to home. Gabriel didn't even want to think of what it meant that nobody was there to make the necessary repairs anymore.

Unfortunately, the archangel's first impression of an empty house had been wrong.

Tarot showed no signs of even acknowledging Gabriel's presence as he continued to frantically search through a pile of bone fragments. His shaking fingers made it hard for the seraph to grab the little piece he had only just discovered, but he eventually managed to take the fragment and add it to the human skeleton he was apparently trying to piece together like a big, morbid puzzle.

Gabriel's back collided with the fractured wall as the archangel stepped back in horror after he noticed the Enochian symbols clearly carved into the few ribs Tarot had managed to reconstruct. There were only three people Gabriel knew of with markings like that on their ribs.

The archangel forced himself to step forward again. His brother might be able to give him some much needed information, though Gabriel didn't have much hope that Tarot would be in any state to speak, much less make sense when talking. As much as the archangel would have usually welcomed his little brother not flinching at every noise, it didn't seem like a good sign that Tarot had completely ignored Gabriel's presence this far. It was more like he hadn’t even noticed his brother’s presence or likely anything besides the shattered remnants of bone he was frantically trying to piece together.

The seraph obviously was insanely -quite possibly, literally- focused on his task, but upon closer inspection the archangel noticed that his eyes were completely blank. Gabriel reached out to touch Tarot -if that didn't get a reaction out of him, nothing would- when suddenly, there were heavy footsteps to be heard.

"Leave him be, Gabriel," Lucifer stated casually, "It is all he's been doing for a while now."

Gabriel reminded himself again that none of what he was seeing was real, but seeing Lucifer in Sam's body was painful, reality or not. It was one of the things the archangel had hoped never to see, in fact. Before Gabriel could say or do anything, Lucifer gestured for him to follow him to another room.

"It was amusing at first, but the novelty has worn off some," the older archangel explained with a careless shrug, as if he wasn't talking about one of their brothers driven completely into madness trying to piece what had most likely been Adam Milligan at one point back together.

"What the hell is all this?" Gabriel demanded in a loud tone he hoped covered up how much distress all this was causing him. It wouldn't do any good to admit that any of the things he was seeing or hearing were affecting him, even if none of it was real.

"How do I put this?" Lucifer exhaled soundly, putting a finger to his lips as if he really was trying to think of a nice way to answer Gabriel's question. He wasn't fooling anybody with the show he was putting on, but the response the younger archangel got in the end still surprised him. "Your fault."

Gabriel frowned for a moment before he shook his head. He couldn't allow the illusion to confuse him. He couldn't let this figment of his imagination -or whatever it really was- get the better of him.

"None of this is real," Gabriel insisted, looking his older brother directly in the eyes, even if it hurt. Sam's eyes technically were the same they had always been, but without the younger Winchester's heart and soul running the show, they seemed cold all of a sudden.

"I'm afraid it is. Very much so," Lucifer replied in a fake compassionate tone.

"Oh yeah? How did all this happen in a day? Things were fine when I last checked in with them and that was..." Gabriel started to object, before he was rudely interrupted. The younger archangel had given Sam a call after he had met up with Crowley just to hear how things were going. The younger Winchester had said everything was fine, even if the case had stumped them a bit. Gabriel had made sure that he didn't leave them to go on his quest at a time when they sorely needed him. Then, of course, there had been Sam's distress call...

"Three years ago," Lucifer finished Gabriel's statement for him.

The younger archangel shook his head vehemently. There was absolutely no chance that he had accidentally skipped three years ahead. Sure, time travel was possible, but it was hard to achieve even under the best of circumstances. It took a lot of power and concentrationeven from an archangel, none of which Gabriel had put into his flight out of that cave. Except, he had been forced to pull his grace together and use a lot of power to go anywhere with the heavy wardings around the cave. Still, things like that didn't happen!

"You're lying," Gabriel exclaimed, getting more and more agitated as he spoke on, "Hell, you're nothing but one big lie! You are not real!"

Lucifer couldn't be real, because if he was real... Gabriel couldn't even think of the possibility. Unthinkable was exactly what it was and not only because accidental time travel didn't happen.

"You know that's not true," Lucifer simply stated, a small, sad smile on his face, "But I can understand why you want to believe it."

Gabriel balled his fists at his sides. It was expected that a good illusion would do anything to make you believe that it was real. There was nothing more to it. There couldn't be.

"What I know is that Sam would never say yes to you. Never!" Gabriel pressed through his teeth. For a moment, he managed to convince himself. For a moment, the younger archangel thought he could see where this entire reality ended and fell apart. The moment was over when Lucifer spoke again.

"Wrong again, brother," the older archangel replied lazily with a self-satisfied grin that looked completely out of place on Sam's face, "It was surprisingly easy, actually. I guess I should thank you for that."

"What?" Gabriel asked, despite his better judgment. He knew he should be looking for ways to get out of all this, not allow himself to be suckered in. However, the accusation his opponent had just made was too grave to ignore.

"It was you who made Sam let his guard down. It was you who gave him a false sense of security. It was you who gave him foolish hopes," Lucifer answered, taking a short break after each one of his points to let them sink in, "And it was you who just up and left."

Gabriel felt like he had been slapped across the face. There was no use denying that there was as least some truth in the first three points his brother had listed. Gabriel had worked hard to make it possible for Sam to let his guard down, feel safe and have hope, but if there was any truth in that last point...

"I didn't..." Gabriel replied nearly tonelessly. He hadn't left Sam or the others and he wouldn't. Sure, the second plan he had given them would have worked well enough without Gabriel, but it was the plan he didn't want them to use.

"It doesn't matter if you did it on purpose this time, Gabriel," Lucifer spoke before his brother had the chance to focus his thoughts and go into denial again, "You did it before. None of them had a hard time believing that you just abandoned them."

Gabriel opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again without a single tone leaving his lips. It was quite likely that nobody would find it hard to imagine that he could turn his back on them for some selfish reason he didn't even bother to inform them about. They all knew he kept secrets. Dean sure had a bad enough opinion of him to believe that and what Dean believed, Castiel would believe sooner or later. Bobby and Adam didn't know Gabriel well enough to know any better either, but Sam had to know better than that!

"Actually, that's not true," Lucifer added, as if he had read his younger brother's mind, "Sam just couldn't accept it. Poor Sammy really believed in you. Kept begging for you to come back in prayers."

"So? Even if that were true, he'd still never..." Gabriel started to object, though his voice sounded weak even to his own ears. Lucifer once more didn't let him finish his statement, for which the younger archangel was nearly grateful. Until he heard his brother speak...

"Anything you want. I'll do anything, Gabriel, just come back. Please, come back to me," Lucifer spoke, imitating Sam's desperate and pleading tone perfectly. The show was over as quickly as it had started, but the older archangel still had something in store for his brother. A moment later Gabriel was looking into the golden eyes of a perfect duplicate of himself instead of Sam's green ones. "Remember, brother, you learned all your tricks from me."

"No!" Gabriel yelled, pushing Lucifer away violently when the older archangel reached for him. The thought that Lucifer might get to Sam by impersonating Gabriel was too much for the younger archangel to bear.

"I have to admit, it wasn't how I wanted things to go, but you know how the saying goes, needs must when the devil drives," Lucifer stated in a nearly flippant tone. He had assumed the form of his true vessel once more. No matter how strongly Gabriel had reacted to seeing Lucifer imitating his brother's little, pathetic vessel, it obviously bothered him more to look into Sam Winchester's face and know it was really Lucifer.

"Oh Gabriel, put that down," the older archangel sighed in mock disappointment when Gabriel drew his blade, "You don't want to hurt Sam, do you?"

"Sam wouldn't want to live like this," Gabriel stated with conviction, meeting his brother's eyes stubbornly. Lucifer had tricked Sam into saying yes. The kind of existence the younger Winchester must have lead ever since had been his literal worst nightmare come true. Gabriel didn't want to hurt Sam in any way, but in this case it would be a mercy killing.

"Don't you ever get tired of being wrong about everything?" Lucifer teased, snorting, "Sam wasn't pleased when I had to torture Castiel for information and he didn't like the part about killing his brothers or the old man, but he has long since grown used to our arrangement. I'd go as far as to say he's learned to love it."

Gabriel shook his head jerkily. None of that could be true. Sam couldn't have changed that much. Sam couldn't have become what Lucifer was implying he had. It simply wasn't possible. Gabriel automatically reached for the amulet around his neck with his free hand.

"Don't be so disappointed, Gabriel," Lucifer spoke on in a softer tone, "Sam always belonged with me, but..."

The last sign Gabriel had gotten from Sam had been a call for help, a desperate plea to come and save him. There hadn't been a message since, but the archangel could still feel the younger Winchester's presence. The steady thrum of simply knowing that Sam was out there, alive, his heart beat was still there.

"There is place for someone by our side," Lucifer offered calmly, "I've always loved you, brother. You nearly followed me the first time. Follow me now!"

Of course, Sam was standing in front of Gabriel. The younger archangel lowered his gaze. Gabriel hadn't tried to push his own thoughts and feelings through the connection he shared with Sam before, but if there ever was a moment for trying that, this was it. The archangel pushed outward, asking for direction, wanting to know what Sam wanted.

Lucifer didn't show any signs of noticing what was going on, but Gabriel got the renewed call for help clear as day. It was muted and sounded confused more than anything else, but it was there.

"The world is changed already, you don't need to have a hand in any of it. You can just lean back, do what you always did and be as close to Sam as you'll ever be," Lucifer finished gently, extending his hand toward his younger brother, "Just give me your blade and surrender."

Gabriel tightened his grip on his sword, meeting Lucifer's gaze. They stood like that for a few long moments, before the younger archangel lowered his eyes and his blade. Gabriel's sword clattered as it fell to the floor. The younger archangel closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging in defeat, even as Lucifer stepped forward to hug him. The older archangel's arms weren't even completely around Gabriel, when the younger archangel let his real blade drop from his sleeve and embedded it in Lucifer's chest.

Gabriel kept his eyes firmly closed, even as he kneeled on the floor. He felt like he should be crying, but the tears wouldn't come. Instead realization set in. Gabriel had left heaven behind and made his home on Earth. Then he had left his new place to side with the Winchesters. The archangel had found his new home, his mission and his reason to life with them. All that was gone.

Gabriel opened his eyes to find his blade again, but when he did he realized that he was back in the cave. The blonde woman was standing in front of him, meeting Gabriel's eyes as soon as the archangel was ready to look back at her. She smiled softly and opened her palm, offering a relatively small, red stone to him.

A quip about how he was apparently worthy was on the tip of Gabriel's tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to even make a half-hearted attempt at a joke. Instead he stood up and took the stone, putting it into his pocket. The archangel had never known that a victory could possibly feel this bad.

"I need to get out of here," Gabriel said a few moments later. Sam's call for help still echoed in his head. The archangel could deal with everything else later.

The woman inclined her head and started to walk back to the entrance of the cave immediately, her steps noticeably quicker than they had been before. That at least was something Gabriel could be nothing but grateful for.


	24. Chapter 24

**23**

 

Dean took one last look at Famine's ring, before he passed it over to Bobby. At least they managed to get that out of the entire disaster that had been their last case. The older Winchester couldn't bring himself to count getting rid of Famine and acquiring his ring in the process, a success though.

"That's not him in there, not really," Bobby stated with conviction, when Sam started yelling for someone to help him and let him out of the panic room again. Despite his words, the oldest hunter looked uneasy. They had Sam locked away safely, but that didn't make it easier to hear the young man scream like that.

"I know," Dean replied, exhaling soundly. His younger brother had been in control of his demon blood addled brain just long enough to allow them to strap him to the bed in the panic room for detox. Damn Famine for sending those demons after Sam when he had been unable to control his hunger, even if that was what had ultimately led to the horseman's downfall! They should have found another way to get the ring of Famine's finger, but at the very least Sam hadn't relapsed for nothing this way.

"Sam just has to get it out of his system, then he will be..." Castiel tried to reassure Dean, but apparently the older Winchester didn't want to hear it. Sometimes the seraph was nothing but puzzled at the human's reactions to things he said or did. The patterns for what Dean reacted to positively and negatively were by no means easy to decipher. However, that never stopped Castiel from trying again and again.

"I know, Cas, okay?" Dean interrupted the angel, trying to keep his rudeness to a minimum in his state of frustration and worry. As a matter of fact, the older Winchester didn't want to hear any more about this. He simply wanted it all to be over and done with. Sam would eventually stop screaming, the demon blood would wear off, he'd come back to the team and they could all act like this unfortunate incident never happened. Logically, Dean knew that it wasn't his younger brother's fault that he had relapsed, but the pictures of Sam high on demon blood he had swallowed by his own free will were too fresh yet to push them away completely.

"What?!" the older Winchester suddenly snapped at his youngest brother, "You have something to say, do it now!"

Adam had been giving Dean side-glances the entire time they had been gathered in Bobby's living room and it was seriously unnerving the oldest Winchester. Apparently, his youngest brother wasn't happy with the situation and just had to throw his two cents in. Dean would gladly give him a chance to do so, if only because the oldest Winchester half hoped for the chance of a fight at all that moment.

"Dean," Bobby said in a calm voice, but with a sharp undertone. It wouldn't do them any good to have more yelling around the house. The situation was tense enough as it was. Not that the old hunter had much hope that the eldest of the idjit brothers would step down now that he had already started it.

"No, Adam you got something to share? Fine, let's hear it!" Dean demanded once more, glaring at his youngest brother. The older Winchester realized that -even though they yelled at each other regularly- he didn't jump at Adam's throat like this under normal circumstances. As things were, Dean had to get some of the frustration and anger he felt out and Adam was the only one around he could easily pick a fight with, without repercussions. Apparently, the youngest member of their team saw right through him, though.

"Yeah, I really don't wanna pick a fight right now. Thanks for the offer," Adam snarked. He knew what his brother was doing and -to be honest- he had intended to just let the moment pass and lay low for once, to let things smooth over without blowing up at Dean. However, the situation had obviously gotten to Adam more than he had realized.

"Of course, the one time I actually ask for your opinion..." the oldest Winchester shot back, ignoring both Bobby's warning looks and Castiel's confused expression. The fact that Tarot was getting worked up over everything so much he pressed his palms against his ears to block out at least some of the commotion wasn't Dean's problem though, but it was Adam's.

"You really want to know what I think? Fine!" Adam retorted, raising his voice to the same level Dean had, "I get that cold turkey's the only option we have, but it's unnecessarily cruel to keep him down there by himself."

The youngest brother wouldn't have normally voiced his doubts about the procedure Dean, Bobby and Castiel all had decided to go with. At least, he would have kept them to himself until the right moment to ask what the hell they were thinking came up. If things had gone according to plan, Adam would have asked Bobby or Castiel in a somewhat calm moment -which was the best they could hope for right now- why they couldn't at least make things a bit easier for Sam. Of course, Dean had to decide that this was the one time he wanted to hear Adam's opinion, though.

"What do you know?" the older Winchester yelled back, not only making Tarot flinch, " _We_ 've been through this before. You have no idea what would happen, if Sam managed to escape again! You have no idea..."

Granted, Sam couldn't jump start the Apocalypse again, that train had left the station, but he could get himself in all kinds of trouble in his state. Not to mention that history had shown that the younger Winchester couldn't kick his demon blood addiction by himself.

"You wanted to hear my opinion!" Adam shouted. It was true that he didn't know much about the situation they were in, but it was by no means his fault that they left him uninformed of anything unless it became absolutely unavoidable.

"Advice for the future, nobody ever wants to hear your opinion," Dean stated in a dangerously low and icy tone. On some level, the older Winchester knew full well that none of this was Adam's fault and that he would regret throwing a punch at his youngest brother sooner rather than later, but Dean was still fully prepared to knock Adam down a peg. By the looks of it, his youngest brother was both prepared to take a punch and to fight back.

"Dean!" Castiel exclaimed alarmed as he grabbed the older Winchester's shoulder and yanked him away from the youngest Winchester. The seraph thought he understood that the brothers had engaged in a strange social ritual which forced them to distract themselves from emotional turmoil of a bigger issue by fighting over a smaller one instead, but Castiel was sure that this had gone far enough.

"A-Adam," Tarot stammered just a moment later, enclosing one of Adam's balled to fists hands with both of his. The angel wanted the fight between the brothers to stop before it got any worse. It was hard enough to try and block out all the noise coming from the panic room, but it was impossible to ignore the two Winchesters yelling at each other at surface level. "Let's... let's... make c-coffee."

Tarot wanted Adam to leave the room with him, to calm him down so maybe they could talk or simply make some coffee and pancakes -the latest addition to the angel's skills. Hopefully Tarot would manage to get his nervous blinking under control then too. Despite not being able to control it, the seraph had learned that there was one positive side to the various ticks he had developed. Every time Adam saw one of them surface, he'd get distracted from whatever he had been doing and work on getting Tarot to calm down again instead.

"Yeah, okay," Adam agreed, relaxing his hands and forcing a small smile to let his friend know that he was at least trying to calm down. Tarot was still blinking irregularly and much too fast, but he managed a small smile in return.

Dean couldn't say that he was breathing any easier after Adam left the room, which proved once and for all that the conflict with his youngest brother had been nothing more than a momentary distraction. Hell, the oldest Winchester wasn't even really annoyed at Adam, even though the brat had once more showed his -well- bratty side.

It was typical Winchester luck that a person Dean was actually mad at decided to show his face that moment.

"Where the hell have you been?" the older Winchester snapped at the archangel, before Gabriel even managed to say anything. The little bastard had really left them hanging in all this even though Dean had heard Sam try to contact him, only reaching his mailbox. At least, that was what it had sounded like.

"Ta-da," Gabriel said listlessly, pulling the red stone out of his pocket and throwing it into the air for Bobby to catch.

"Is that...?" the oldest hunter couldn't help asking, even though the archangel didn't look like he was in the mindset to answer any questions. There would be a time to sit down and find out what exactly had happened to all of them over the course of the past days, but this clearly wasn't it.

"The Philosopher's Stone, yes," Gabriel replied flatly, already trying to push his way past Dean to get to Sam. The younger Winchester had stopped yelling for the moment, but there was no doubt where the archangel was headed, anyway.

"Don't think I'll just let you-" Dean started to object, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he stood in front of the archangel to keep him from getting to Sam. Gabriel just gave the older Winchester a murderous look for the split of a second before he simply disappeared into thin air. "Son of a bitch!"

"Oh no, you don't," Bobby stated resolutely, grabbing Dean’s shoulder to keep him from storming down the stairs and into the panic room more successfully than the older Winchester had with Gabriel. The oldest hunter had to admit that he liked the idea of somebody being with Sam during his detox and if that somebody could be a certain angel he clearly liked a lot, all the better.

"Bobby..." Dean started to object, without fighting against the hold the older man had on him.

"This has gone far enough, son," Bobby replied in a gentle and reasonable tone, "You're frustrated and worried, we all get that, but it's time for you to get some hunter's helper and let it go."

"I must agree, Dean," Castiel inclined his head as he stood at the oldest Winchester's other side, "This is the right time for prayers and copious amounts of alcohol."

 

* * *

 

 

"Sam," Gabriel breathed the moment he finally stood in front of the younger Winchester. For a moment, it looked like the human had tired himself out and was sleeping, but his eyes snapped open immediately as the archangel addressed him.

"Gabriel? Is that really... are you really there?" Sam asked with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. It only lasted for a moment before his demon blood addled brain saw the archangel's presence for the chance it was. "Help me! Please, help me! Set me free!"

Gabriel sighed and raised his hand to snap, making the straps that kept the younger Winchester bound to the bed disappear. It wasn't like Sam could hurt himself or the archangel, how things stood. As the younger Winchester found out the moment he jumped off the bed and tried to open the door, it was also impossible for him to leave the room while Gabriel didn't want him to.

"Let me out of here!" Sam demanded, pushing and pulling at the door in vain for a few long moments.

"I can't do that," Gabriel replied decisively. It hurt more than the archangel let on to see the younger Winchester in the state he was in. Even though Gabriel knew that he had tried to get back in time to keep Sam from having to go through this, he couldn't help feeling guilty.

"Let me out of here!" the younger Winchester yelled. Sam didn't make the conscious decision that he wanted to hurt Gabriel, but his powers lashed out at the archangel anyway. Gabriel seemed hardly fazed by the gust of power coming his way, but his clothes and hair were mused a little from the resulting gust of wind.

"Very convincing argument there, Sambo. Answer's still no," the archangel commented, straightening his jacket and running his hand through his hair a couple of times.

Sam visibly deflated, shrinking back against the wall. That moment the younger Winchester feared for his sanity and his life. He already felt the demon blood and the power coming with it slowly fading away. It was a feeling he couldn't stand. Gabriel stood between Sam and his freedom, but he couldn't fight the archangel. That still left him with another option, though. "Please... please... I'll do anything. Anything! Just say what you want, I'll do it, if you just..."

Gabriel saw red the moment he heard Sam beg like that. He had heard those words before, coming out of Lucifer's mouth. The archangel stood right in front of the younger Winchester before he even made the conscious decision to move. Sam's eyes widened in fear, which usually would have been enough to make Gabriel stop whatever he was doing, but the archangel wasn't thinking straight. Maybe he wasn't thinking at all as his grace pushed outward and against Sam's very being.

Gabriel noticed that something was going wrong immediately, but he was unable to reign his grace back in no matter how hard he tried. After what seemed like an eternity to Gabriel, but was hardly more than a couple of moments, the archangel's grace snapped back into his vessel with enough force to knock him off his feet.

"Gabriel?" Sam asked quietly a second later. Apparently, the younger Winchester hadn't managed to remain standing either. "What... what just happened?"

"Munchkin... I... Are you okay?" Gabriel replied worriedly. The archangel didn't need more than a second to determine that he himself was completely fine, but that wasn't what was most important.

"Yeah, actually... I've never felt better," Sam answered and huffed out a surprised chuckle. It was a strange thing to say under the circumstances, but it was true nevertheless. "What happened?"

"The demon blood is gone now," Gabriel explained a bit evasively. The archangel had meant to achieve exactly that, at least he thought he had. Gabriel had to admit that there hadn't been much thinking involved when he had burned the demon blood out of Sam's system with his grace. If he had thought about it, he would have realized that he couldn't -or shouldn't- do something like that to the younger Winchester without asking him first. It had been tremendously risky business. There had been a pretty big chance that Sam could have rejected Gabriel's grace instead of the blood. Things could have become very painful and ugly, very quickly. Hell, the younger Winchester could have suffered great damage to his soul in the process and Gabriel hadn't even given him the chance to say yes or no first.

"I thought this should have taken longer," Sam stated calmly as he stood on slightly wobbly legs. Detox should have taken much longer and been by far more unpleasant than this; that much was for sure. Honestly, the younger Winchester didn't see why Gabriel looked so nervous and guilty, like he was about to apologize.

"No, Sam, all of it," the archangel elaborated. It was obvious that Sam thought he had been spared the detox and nothing more, when in fact a lot more had happened. "When my grace touched you, your soul latched on and didn't let go. I... I burned the demon blood out of you like burning a demon out of a possession."

"So, you're saying I'm..." the younger Winchester started to say without knowing how he could possibly finish the sentence. Sam knew what he hoped Gabriel had tried to say, but that was too much to hope for, too good to be true.

"Squeaky clean, like the day you were born," the archangel finished with a small smile before his face fell and he began his apology, "I'm sorry, I panicked. I didn't mean to do any of this without..."

Sam never let Gabriel finish apologizing before he knelt in front of the archangel, cupped his face in his hands and kissed him.


	25. Chapter 25

**24**

 

For a few long moments, Gabriel gave in to temptation and kissed Sam back. The archangel's hands slid in the human's hair to hold the taller man close and angle his head to Gabriel's liking. Sam went willingly, allowing the archangel to take control over the kiss.

Unfortunately, Gabriel couldn't keep his conscience from interfering for long. There was a reason why the archangel hadn't given in to his love -and lust- for Sam this far. None of the things that caused Gabriel decide to put a tight lid on his feelings had changed. He had to end this before it went any further. The time for the truth had come.

"Sam, no," Gabriel sighed, gently pushing the younger Winchester away enough that they could talk. The temptation to close the gap between them again was strong, but it would work against everything the archangel tried to accomplish and send some seriously mixed signals. "This is wrong."

"Why? I..." Sam began to ask in a confused tone, before realization set in and changed his tone to resignation, "Nothing has changed, has it?"

Even if the younger Winchester was completely free of any trace of demon he had ever had in him, it didn't change his past, it didn't change the things he had done and it probably didn't even change anything about how people saw him. As relieved as Sam was to know that the stain that he had carried around with him nearly his entire life was gone, he still was Lucifer's vessel and nothing more than the grown up version of the kid Gabriel formed a deep attachment to.

"What are you talking about?" the archangel frowned, barely resisting the urge to hug the deep scowl off Sam's face. Gabriel finally managed to get up off the floor and sit on the bed the younger Winchester had been strapped to earlier. They had to talk this through, if they wanted to get out of this room with their friendship intact. Gabriel decided to make sure they would at least manage that. The reason why the archangel had to reject Sam, though it went against what he wanted, was that he couldn't bear to lose the friendship they had under any circumstances.

It didn't help that previously, Gabriel hardly ever considered these things before he got himself into a relationship head first and without any regard for the consequences. After all, it wasn't much of a problem to deal with a scorned lover, if things went sour. It wasn't as if any of the pagan gods Loki had been with could do much harm to him. Granted, they could inconvenience him a little and make meetings with others seriously awkward, but that was about the worst of it.

However in this case, Gabriel wasn't willing to pay the price for not doing the math beforehand. The archangel had to have Sam in his life and if it was as nothing more than a friend to ensure that it would last, then that was the way it had to be. Though some parts of Gabriel -especially certain parts of his physique- were firmly against that notion.

"I'm still nothing but a freak," Sam answered matter-of-factly, like he fully accepted what he had just said as the truth and nothing, but the truth. The younger Winchester knew he had made a mistake the moment Gabriel looked at him like he wanted to hit him over the head with a rolled up newspaper. Of course, the archangel didn't like it when Sam spoke about himself like that. Or - the now clean slated man thought bitterly- Gabriel didn't like it when Sam spoke about little Sammy like that.

"If you're a freak, what am I?" the archangel replied in a demanding tone, before his voice softened again, "Besides, all the best people are freaks."

Gabriel understood that the word 'freak' held only the worst connotations for Sam, but he hoped to make him reconsider by making clear that the archangel viewed himself as a freak as well. Gabriel was far from what an angel was supposed to be, but he had never managed to be the average pagan god either. Actually, taking the thought further, Gabriel cared much more about people than was expected among angels, but not quite as much as any human believers would like to think.

The archangel patted the bed next to him as a sign for Sam to sit down next to him. It was strange to speak to someone who was towering over Gabriel as much as the younger Winchester did from his standing position while the archangel was sitting. To Gabriel's relief, Sam followed the suggestion nearly immediately.

"Then why...?" the younger Winchester asked, trying to make sense of the situation they were clearly in. At least Gabriel was willing to discuss the matter. Sam had some hope to walk away from the talk with an understanding of where they stood, even if it was likely to break his heart. If Gabriel's rejection didn't come from the fact that Sam was obviously a freak, that only left a much more heartbreaking alternative. The archangel simply didn't love him. "Oh..."

"I have a feeling like whatever you're thinking is wrong again," Gabriel stated in a gentle tone, turning his head so he could look directly into Sam's eyes. It was much harder to have this conversation than it had any right to be. At least, the younger Winchester didn't seem to be mad at Gabriel, though the human's acceptance of imminent rejection left a stale taste in the archangel's mouth, too.

"Gabriel, why won't you...? Why can't...?" Sam started before he stopped himself with a calming breath. He wasn't trying to make accusations, he was only trying to understand what was going on. "Why is this going nowhere?"

The younger Winchester vaguely gestured between them with a small, crooked smile. Of course, a part of Sam hoped for an answer that would make it possible for them to have a relationship after all, but he would settle for any answer that made him understand what was really going on between them.

"You don't really want to be with me that way," Gabriel tried to explain, utterly confusing Sam in the process.

The younger Winchester hadn't been prepared to discuss his own feelings, when they were clear as day to him. Sam was head over heels for Gabriel, it was the archangel who kept his distance. To hear Gabriel say that Sam didn't want the relationship the younger Winchester was completely sure he wanted was confusing.

"Look, if you don't have feelings for me, I can deal with that," Sam replied, though his body language spoke a different language altogether. Granted, the younger Winchester would have a hard time dealing with being rejected, especially since he was pretty sure that Gabriel had kissed him like he meant it earlier, but he would learn to live with it.

"I wish it were that easy," the archangel groaned. If Gabriel didn't have the intense feelings he had for Sam, things would have been much easier. To be completely honest, he probably would still be drinking ale with the other Norse gods instead of getting his ass kicked in trials to stop the Apocalypse and save the entire world, for one human. "Sam, when you were a kid, you had that little puppy crush on me."

This was it, they were finally getting to the core of the problem. Sam was immediately embarrassed by the topic, but Gabriel had expected as much. If they were finally putting the cards on the table, they had to speak about all the issues.

"Don't worry, it was cute. Very flattering, really," the archangel stated gently when Sam buried his face in his hands. Gabriel couldn't help finding the blush that reached the younger Winchester's ears endearing. It had been cute when little Sammy's ears had turned red over basically anything nice the archangel said to him and it was no less charming on adult Sam.

"The thing is, what you're feeling now is only an aftereffect of that," Gabriel explained reasonably. The archangel sighed, though he wasn't quite sure himself, if he was relieved to finally talk about the core of the problem or disappointed to have to face the truth. Unfortunately, Sam apparently didn't dream of making this any easier for Gabriel.

"No, it's not," the younger Winchester protested vehemently. For all his faults, Sam was very much in touch with his feelings. If what he felt for Gabriel had been nothing more than a shadow of the crush his eight year old self had on the archangel, he would have known. In the very least, he would have been able to see the truth in Gabriel's words. There was no truth in them though.

"Sam," the archangel nearly begged, trying to get the younger Winchester to see reason. Sam had to accept the truth so they could move past this. It might hurt that moment, but in the long run it would be better for both of them. The moment the younger Winchester realized that his feelings only stemmed from the week he had been an easily impressible kid, would have been the end of any relationship they might have built. Chances were they wouldn't have been able to even stay friends if it came to that.

"No, it's not," Sam repeated once more with a little more force. The younger Winchester knew that he had to make Gabriel believe him without a trace of doubt left, if he wanted them to have a shot at a relationship. Hell, after the kiss they had shared earlier, Sam was even more convinced that he wanted exactly that. "I didn't love you when we met again in that hospital. I was glad you were there and I hoped we could be friends again, sure, but I didn't love you."

The younger Winchester was willing to admit that he wouldn't have been half as glad to see the archangel, if it hadn't been for the week Sam and Dean had spent with Gabriel as their guardian. Of course, the brothers had never gotten the chance to get to know the archangel better before then, so the younger Winchester thought that was understandable.

"I first thought that there might be more when you gave me this," Sam continued, pulling the amulet out from under his shirt, "But then you kept calling me munchkin and I thought... I thought you were only so nice to me, because you liked me when I was a kid."

Gabriel gaped at Sam for a few long moments, before he started to laugh. The younger Winchester wasn't sure what to make of it, until the archangel wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. That at least was clearly a good sign and Gabriel was probably going to explain everything else to him, once he managed to stop laughing.

"We're both idiots," the archangel stated with conviction a few moments later.

Sam thought about objecting to that, but all thoughts fled his mind when Gabriel brought his hand to the side of Sam's neck to pull him into another kiss.

For the first few moments it was nothing more but a press of lips against lips, but that changed when Gabriel wound his fingers into Sam's hair once more, pulling just enough to elicit a small gasp. The archangel used the moment the younger Winchester's lips were parted to suck his lower lip into his mouth, worrying it gently between his teeth before he ran his tongue over it soothingly.

Months of imagining what it would be like to have Gabriel kiss him had done a poor job of preparing Sam for what the real deal was like. The younger Winchester was far from complaining, though. All his expectations were exceeded.

"I... I should go upstairs, tell Dean everything's okay," Sam breathed when they had to part for air, still leaning his forehead against Gabriel's, "He's probably worried."

Actually, Dean was worried for sure, but the younger Winchester couldn't have thought of that earlier if he had tried. Too much had happened and Sam was sure that he was nowhere near done processing everything that had changed in the past twenty-four hours. They had gone up against Famine and had not only survived but won, the younger Winchester's demon blood addiction had resurfaced and had not only been beaten once more, but completely eliminated and Gabriel not only returned Sam's feelings, but was finally acting on them too.

"He was a tiny bit grumpier than usually earlier," the archangel admitted with a smirk. It was an understatement of course, but it wouldn't help anybody if Gabriel said that Dean had been grumpier than the Grinch at Christmas. Sam was going to get a first hand impression of his older brother's mood soon anyway.

"Sam, wait," Gabriel exclaimed before the younger Winchester could leave the panic room. There was one more thing they should talk about before everyone else inevitably got involved. "We're going to have a dinner date tomorrow."

Sam frowned slightly, before he huffed out a chuckle, "Is that your way of asking me out?"

There had been a question in Gabriel's statement for sure, but he hadn't made it sound like he was actually asking. Not that Sam minded. The younger Winchester was willing to go along with what the archangel wanted, as long as he kept it within reasonable parameters. There would very likely be things they'd need to have long discussions about in the future, but Sam's willingness to date Gabriel wasn't one of them.

"Would you have said anything other than yes, if I'd actually asked?" Gabriel asked in a highly amused tone, before he walked up to Sam to take his hand, "Besides, we've lost enough time, I thought we could speed this up a little."

"Why not breakfast then?" the younger Winchester retorted, giving the archangel a challenging look.

They both enjoyed the playful exchange more than they even realized that moment. After everything that had happened to Sam and Gabriel, it was the ultimate sign that they were both okay and that things were looking up.

"'Cause that's not romantic, you philistine," Gabriel replied in fake outrage, before he leaned in to press his lips against Sam's tenderly once more. Of course, breakfasts could be romantic too, but first dates were done with dinner and the prospect of good night kisses at the door. Besides, Gabriel expected that they'd have ample opportunities for romantic breakfasts, second breakfasts, elevensies, lunches, afternoon teas and suppers in addition to dinners in the future. Alright, given their daily schedules and especially the situation with the Apocalypse, maybe not ample opportunities, but opportunities still.

"Alright, dinner tomorrow evening," Sam agreed, taking a deep breath before he let go of Gabriel's hand and opened the door of the panic room, "Breakfast the morning after."

Gabriel wasn't completely sure if Sam had been serious, but so help him Father, he hoped.


	26. Chapter 26

**25**

 

"Dean, could you please just..." Sam asked in a nearly pleading tone before his older brother interrupted him. If he was completely honest, the younger Winchester had to admit that he wouldn't have known how to finish his statement anyway.

As expected, the older Winchester hadn't taken the news of Sam and Gabriel dating very well. Bobby and Adam hadn't been surprised at all -in fact, the youngest Winchester brother had even looked a little smug- when Sam had told them, but Dean was another matter entirely. He apparently felt like his younger brother's love for the archangel came out of nowhere and was among the worst news he had heard all year.

"What? You want me to shut up, smile and pretend like the fact that my little brother's not only suddenly discovering his gay streak, but also going for another mo... species to tick off his bucket list is normal?" the older Winchester snorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Sure, Dean was happy that Gabriel had made detox much quicker and more effective for Sam, but did they really have to hook up over that?

The older Winchester would have preferred to have this conversation without Adam in the room, but before he could suggest to take it anywhere else, Gabriel appeared. As if that wasn't annoying enough, the angelic douchebag made it obvious he had been listening to their conversation too.

"That would be much appreciated, Dean-o," Gabriel smirked, wrapping his arm around Sam's waist demonstratively. Apparently, the archangel had chosen just the right moment to pop in. By the looks of it, the oldest Winchester was ready for an argument, but Gabriel didn't plan to let him have his way. The archangel had everything set up for a nice evening just for him and Sam, conflict with Dean would only throw a shadow on that. So Gabriel chose to ignore the oldest Winchester and turned his full attention to the Winchester this evening was all about. "You ready to leave?"

Sam threw a quick side-glance at his older brother, before he nodded. This was the best moment they were going to get to leave and the younger Winchester had every intention of taking it.

"Great," Gabriel smiled, raising his hand to snap. The archangel was unable to leave without saying one more thing, though. "Don't wait up. I can't guarantee to bring him back before tomorrow morning."

Adam bit his lower lip to keep from chuckling while Dean was fuming.

"I hate that guy," Dean pressed through his teeth, turning around to look at Adam like he expected some kind of response. Adam considered telling Dean not to look at him like that, because obviously nobody ever wanted to hear his opinion, but that would only be asking for trouble with an already angsty older brother. Not that the youngest brother managed to refrain from saying anything for long. He blamed it on daddy issues.

"Don't know, I mean Sam seems pretty happy," Adam pointed out with a shrug. He put the anatomy book he had been reading aside and stood up from the couch. Leaving the room to let Dean take his frustration out on the furniture definitely was the smart option here.

"Do you always have to disagree with me?" the oldest Winchester sighed. His voice definitely had an accusing undertone, but it didn't sound like he was trying to start a fight. He just sounded tired. If Dean had been in the right mindset to reflect his own behavior, he would have realized that he spoke to Adam the same way their father had spoken to Sam after the endless disagreements with his teenage son had worn him out and he just wanted some sign that they were even able to speak to each other normally anymore.

Adam frowned deeply as he regarded his oldest brother. Dean sounded nearly a little defeated, so Adam decided to throw him a bone. "Man, that Balthazar sure is an ass!"

The oldest Winchester looked back at his youngest brother like he had gone crazy for a moment, before a grin appeared on his face and he huffed out a laugh. Obviously, there was at least something they agreed on. Dean thought about his next step for a few moments, but figured it wouldn't hurt to see if he and Adam could find some more common ground.

"What do you think of 'the fast and the furious'?" the oldest Winchester asked casually.

Adam simply shrugged as an answer. It was an action movie that could be fun to watch when you were in the right mindset or company for it. Adam couldn't say that he loved it, but he didn't dislike it either.

"Good, good, we're finding common ground here," Dean stated with a self-satisfied smile. The oldest Winchester didn't doubt that there'd be arguments again in the future, but they had managed to establish that there were a few things they had in common. Something they had failed to do for weeks before, if Dean thought about it.

"We're both annoyed by the same angel and kinda like the same movie. Yeah, definitely common ground," Adam replied sarcastically. He saw what his brother was trying to do, but something in Adam protested against giving an inch. Dean would try to take a mile. Adam was willing and able to view the two Winchesters as his brothers, but he was in no way willing to fall into the obliging little brother role.

"Shut off the sarcasm and get the popcorn. We're watching that movie," Dean groaned, grabbing a pillow from the couch and throwing it at his youngest brother's face.

"Fine with me, if Terry can watch too," Adam agreed after he had successfully dodged the pillow. For all he knew, the seraph was in the kitchen anyway, so getting the popcorn and Tarot would go together nicely. In a way Adam was only testing the ground with his demand, but he also thought that the angel could use a little time away from his clocks.

"Great, bring the guy who's scared of his own shadow to watch an action movie," Dean replied, throwing his arms in the air. It wasn't that the oldest Winchester had a problem with the angel, but it was hard to find the right way of acting around the fidgeting angel. The seraph twitched and jumped at nearly any loud noise. Even though Bobby, Sam and most of all Adam seemed convinced that he was getting better, Dean didn't really see it.

"Hey, Terry knows the difference between fiction and reality," Adam insisted, "As long as you don't show him the news or a documentary, he's fine."

"Whatever," Dean shrugged, turning toward the TV to locate the movie while his brother went to get the popcorn and the angel. On second thought, there was something else they could use. Even though Dean had admittedly never taken the time to get to know Tarot and hadn't spared many thoughts on the seraph, the oldest Winchester knew that the angel would be happy about his request. "Make him bring coffee!"

 

* * *

 

 

The first thing the younger Winchester noticed when they arrived at their destination was that he didn't see much. The lights in the room were off, two lit candles on the dinner table being the only light source around. Sam fought the urge to laugh. He liked romantic things, he really did, but he was usually on the other side of things. The one who did the planning and set things up.

"Is this okay?" Gabriel asked after giving Sam a moment to take in their surroundings. The archangel had put a lot of thought into their evening, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have made all the wrong choices. "I could take us anywhere else you want with a snap."

The table was decked for two, with a long white tablecloth and enough cutlery for a three course meal. Gabriel had intended to make the atmosphere more intimate with the use of candlelight over artificial light and when he saw how Sam's eyes caught the light of the slightly flickering flames the angel knew he had made the right choice. Unbeknownst to the archangel, the younger Winchester's attention had been focused on Gabriel's eyes for some time too.

"Mhm," Sam hummed, taking Gabriel's hand and intertwining their fingers. It wasn't that often that the younger Winchester got the archangel for himself without the possibility of someone else walking in and ending the moment between them. Sam didn't think that they were currently in danger of anybody suddenly showing up to disturb their date, which was everything he wanted that moment.

"Just say the word, I'll take you to Paris, Venice..." Gabriel offered, squeezing Sam's hand. This was going to be a night to remember for both of them, even if the archangel had to abandon all his plans and go for any fantasy the younger Winchester could come up with to make it so. It wasn't like Gabriel to get nervous about a date, but he hadn't been on any dates that had meant nearly as much as this one in a very long time.

"You'd take me anywhere I want?" Sam asked, the corners of his mouth twitching like he was thinking of a joke the archangel wasn't in on, another unusual occurrence for Gabriel.

"Anywhere," the archangel vowed. If he had to set up a date on the moon last minute to get Sam's heart to beat faster and make him smile one of his dimpled smiles that in turn made Gabriel's heart beat faster, he'd get right to it. The archangel felt there was something else behind the younger Winchester's question, though.

"How about here?" Sam whispered into Gabriel's ear, before he cupped the archangel's cheek and kissed him deeply.

"You tease," Gabriel chuckled when they parted for breath. The archangel didn't think that Sam actually meant to come on to him as strongly as his words suggested. Then again, Gabriel had been wrong before.

"Ain't teasing if you back it up," Sam replied as he let his hands wander from the archangel's back to his rear, slipping his hands into the back pockets of Gabriel's jeans.

The archangel crushed their lips together again, already mentally mapping out the quickest way to the bedroom without teleporting. Dinner would still be there later.

Most of their clothes were lost on the way to the bedroom. Gabriel was down to his undershirt and red boxers, while Sam only had his black briefs left. The younger Winchester was determined to rectify that injustice though, so the archangel's chest was bare just a couple seconds later, his undershirt gone somewhere Gabriel couldn't even remotely care about while Sam looked at him like he wanted to eat him whole.

They definitely needed to move this to the bed. The carpet in Gabriel's bedroom was fluffy, but not made for what he had in mind.

The younger Winchester allowed the archangel to push him toward the bed and onto the mattress, scrambling back until he was spread out in the middle. Sam had expected to be nervous when they got to this part finally, but he found he was strangely calm. The only tension the younger Winchester felt was anticipatory, but that reached a whole new level when Gabriel followed Sam onto the bed and leaned over him so they could kiss again.

"I love you," the archangel whispered against the younger Winchester's neck, trailing little kisses from Sam's throat over his chest until he reached his navel. Gabriel hesitated for a moment even as his fingers toyed with the waistband of the younger Winchester's briefs.

"Gabriel, please," Sam moaned, raising his hips off the bed in invitation.

The archangel made short work of their remaining clothes after that. The younger Winchester wasn't the only one who had been fantasizing about this for weeks after all.

The way Sam made room for Gabriel to fit between his legs said more than clearly how the taller man wanted this to go. They took a moment to get comfortable and smile at each other, before their lips met again.

Sam's arms were wrapped around Gabriel's back tightly, holding the other man as close to him as possible while the archangel trailed his fingers over the taller man's side and hips, sending them further down only when he was sure that it wasn't making Sam uncomfortable.

Gabriel's probing fingers made the younger Winchester's breath come faster until he could do little more than sigh and moan. The archangel understood the message clear as day anyway.

Gabriel resumed kissing the breath out of Sam's lungs at the same time as he positioned his hips, swallowing the younger Winchester's gasp as the archangel pushed forward in one fluid motion. After weeks of pent up frustration, Gabriel didn't expect either one of them to last long. In fact, their movements got frenzied much quicker than the archangel would have liked, even though it was hard to find anything wrong with it when they were both enjoying themselves and nearing completion fast. Gabriel consoled himself with the thought that they still had most of the night in front of them and that Sam was smiling much too dopily after his climax for it to have been anything other than mind-blowing.

"I love you, too," Sam breathed out once they were lying next to each other, Gabriel's head on the younger Winchester's chest.

"Oh, _now_ you say that," the archangel chuckled, gently slapping Sam's stomach. Gabriel couldn't deny that he made an undignified happy noise when the younger Winchester suddenly wrapped both arms around him and squeezed in retaliation.

They fell asleep minutes later, still tangled up with each other and smiling.

 

* * *

 

 

After the first fast and the furious movie had ended, Tarot let Adam know that he didn't want to watch the second part with the brothers. It was probably ridiculous, but Adam was very proud of his friend for voicing a preference like that and taking control of his own life, even if it was just about his schedule for the evening.

On another note, Tarot's absence gave Adam the perfect opportunity to talk to Dean about something that had been on the younger brother's mind the entire evening. No matter what the oldest Winchester thought, Adam didn't wait all day for an opportunity to antagonize and embarrass him in front of everyone.

"So, is it that Gabe's a guy, an angel, or that he's... Gabriel?" the younger brother asked, keeping his tone casual. A deaf and blind man could have seen that Dean was against Sam and Gabriel's newfound relationship. However, the real question was why.

"We're not talking about this" the older Winchester replied in a gruff tone, never looking away from the TV. Dean knew that he'd have to have this conversation the moment he so much as looked at Adam. There was the small chance that his youngest brother could take a hint and would leave him alone as things were. Of course, the oldest Winchester could never be so lucky.

"Dude, when push comes to shove, I gotta know which side I'm on!" Adam pointed out seriously. The greatest problem with nobody giving the youngest Winchester brother the full story was that he couldn't make informed decisions half of the time. If Sam and Dean were going to be up in arms over this then Adam had to know if Dean was being a homophobic jerk or if he had good reasons for being against the relationship.

"Oh, there's a chance you'll be on my side?" the older Winchester huffed out a humorless chuckle. This far Adam hadn't sided with Dean in anything other than Balthazar being an ass.

"If you're right for once, yeah," the younger brother said more teasingly than snarky for once. Adam realized that he and Dean really hadn't had a good start, or a good time since, but it wasn't like the youngest Winchester brother was deliberately trying to be difficult or annoying... most of the time.

"Okay, look, I don't care if Sam gets it on with a girl, a guy, both, neither... whatever floats his boat..." Dean groaned, running his palm over his face. The older Winchester couldn't quite believe that he was having this conversation, with Adam of all people.

"So, it's the angel thing or it's about Gabriel being Gabriel," Adam summed up how far they had gotten in the discussion. If he was honest, the youngest brother couldn't believe that they had even gotten this far without anybody yelling or the threat of violence.

"You tell anyone we had this talk and I'll have to kill you. Slowly," Dean threatened, giving Adam a hard stare to let him know how serious he was about this before he spoke on, "There's casual relationships and then there's... that other kind. Sam doesn't do casual well. When he gets that look, like the one he's had all day, he's in over his head."

There was an uncomfortable silence between the brothers after Dean's explanation. Adam blinked a couple of times, trying to refocus his thoughts. There were a couple things the youngest brother had expected to hear, most of them to do with prejudice of one kind or another, but what Dean had actually said was surprising and not in a bad way.

"You're worried Sam's going to get his heart broken," Adam stated in a tone much too close to awe for Dean's liking, "Wow.... I think.... I kinda am on your side in this!"

"Twerp."

"Jerk."


	27. Chapter 27

**26**

 

"I think that's mine," Sam chuckled. The younger Winchester had put his briefs and t-shirt back on for the midnight snack they were about to have. Apparently, Gabriel had gone for Sam's flannel shirt, disregarding that it was too big and long for him.

"No, it's not," the archangel replied with a completely straight face, "I usually wear it with a belt. As a dress."

The younger Winchester shook his head in amusement and chuckled as he opened the bedroom door.

"You're not that..." Sam started before he suddenly fell silent. Truth be told, the younger Winchester hadn't paid that much attention to their whereabouts before. Sam appreciated that Gabriel had set up a candlelight dinner for them, even if they hadn't eaten any of it in the end, but the greatest part of his thoughts had been all about the archangel and how he could kiss the nearly always present grin off his face among other things.

"Sam?" Gabriel asked with a frown, standing behind the younger Winchester and wrapping his arms around his middle. The archangel was pretty sure he knew what the reason for Sam's sudden silence, but he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"I didn't realize..." the younger Winchester said, exhaling soundly.

"You were a little preoccupied earlier," Gabriel replied, squeezing Sam gently, "Is this a problem?"

Nothing about the younger Winchester's tone or stance gave away if he was positively or negatively surprised. Maybe it was a bit of both. In all honesty, the archangel had put a lot of thought into the right place for their date. Gabriel thought it should be a place that offered privacy which had already proven to be a good decision a place they both felt comfortable at. There was the possibility he had made a mistake, though.

"I just never thought I'd see this place again," Sam answered with a smile, putting his hands over Gabriel's both resting on his stomach, "Last time I was here I was eight years old... and that was a couple months ago."

Gabriel had to laugh at that. Nothing about what Sam had said was wrong, but there weren't many 26 year olds who could have said something like that, at least not literally. It also was good to hear the awed undertone in Sam's voice that made clear finding out where they were was in fact a positive surprise.

"Can you even imagine how hard it was for me not to laugh every time you worried about staying vertically challenged all your life?" Gabriel chuckled, squeezing Sam's middle once more before he let go so they could walk to the kitchen.

"Hey, I let you convince me that being kinda short has nothing to do with kicking ass and generally being awesome easy enough," the younger Winchester pointed out. Now that Sam knew that Gabriel didn't only like him for the kid he had been, thinking back to the time they had spent together the week before Halloween had lost its sting.

"I have to admit, I could've gotten used to all the hero worship you had going on," Gabriel admitted with a grin.

The candles weren't burning anymore, but the table was still decked out for a three course meal. However, the archangel doubted that was what Sam had meant when he had asked for a midnight snack. A sandwich was probably more like it.

Gabriel was about to let Sam's hand go for the minute it would take him to get everything they needed out of the fridge -sometimes doing things the human ways seemed more appropriate, especially with a human- when the younger Winchester pulled the archangel back against his chest.

"No past tense, Gabe," Sam whispered affectionately, nuzzling Gabriel's neck, "You're still my hero."

 

* * *

 

 

Castiel entered Bobby Singer's house long after all the humans had retired for the night. Every single member of Team Free Will had a place in the seraph's heart, but he was looking for a conversation with Tarot. Everything Castiel had witnessed thus far suggested that his brother would be more open to speaking to him without anybody else around.

It wasn't hard to locate Tarot, who was predictably tinkering with one of his clocks in the kitchen. The cog the sandy-haired seraph had been polishing fell from his suddenly trembling fingers when Castiel approached him. Tarot shut his eyes and tried to take a few calming breaths.

"Will you speak to me, brother?" Castiel asked after giving the other angel a few long moments to get himself under control. The blue-eyed seraph couldn't imagine what it was like to regularly lose control as much as Tarot did, but he knew for sure that it was a feeling he never wanted to experience for himself.

"I'll... I'll try," Tarot answered quietly, throwing a nervous side-glance at Castiel before he fixed his eyes on the clock in front of him. It was an old model - not old enough to be worth a lot though - and in a very bad condition, but to Tarot it was just as valuable as any other clock the angel had ever gotten his hands on.

"I find Dean's behavior perplexing on the best of days, but I cannot hope to understand Adam," Castiel stated seriously. The seraph chose a chair across the table from his brother a moment later. Castiel didn't want to tower over Tarot, not when he hoped to have a casual -as casual as the two could possibly manage- conversation with him.

"Adam... Adam is a good... good person," the sandy-haired seraph managed to say after a short moment of silence. In the beginning it was often frustrating to Tarot that his thoughts on topics were much more complex than he could hope to express in words, but he had learned to live with his limitations some time ago. Talking was one of the things that had gotten easier since Adam decided he wanted to hear about anything Tarot wanted to say, but he was still a long way from leading casual conversations.

"I would say the same of Dean, but that only makes it more peculiar that they cannot seem to get along," Castiel replied with a slight frown. Humans were oddly complicated beings. The seraph had a very high opinion of the oldest Winchester -much higher than Dean seemed to have of himself- but the aggression Dean often displayed when it came to his youngest brother was perplexing.

Tarot took a deep breath before he picked up the cog he had dropped earlier and another one from a small pile of parts he had yet to polish.

"Those two p-parts... they keep... keep jamming," the sandy-haired angel explained in a whisper, "They... they work alone... but not... not together. Not... not yet."

Adam and Dean were like two parts that should be able to work together, but didn't because of the accumulated debris and grime they came with. Their lives had shaped them into two good people who were too bent out of shape at some parts to gear into each other without problems. Tarot could only hope that his brother understood what he meant to say, but it looked like he was lucky.

"I understand," Castiel nodded to himself, "It will take time."

"And... and w-work," Tarot agreed, picking up the cloth he used to polish the parts. The other angel wanted to speak about Dean and Adam. They had talked about it and come to a conclusion, so the sandy-haired seraph assumed that their conversation was over. What he didn't know was that speaking about problems the Winchester brothers were having counted as small talk in Castiel's book. The blue-eyed angel had something much graver he wanted to talk about once the ice between him and Tarot was broken.

"There is one more thing I need to know," Castiel said a moment later in an uncharacteristically uncertain voice, "How does it feel to be constrained to the house and Bobby Singer's will?"

Tarot tensed visibly, even as he tried to keep his breathing under control. It took some time before the seraph managed to put his answer into words."It's... it's... b-better than... than it was."

All in all, Tarot had to say that he had been at rock-bottom when Castiel had first captured him. The seraph was willing to die rather than to face Zachariah or his goons again and he would have gone through with it, if Gabriel hadn't intervened. Things had only gotten better since, even if most days were a struggle. Bobby had always been supportive in his own way and then Adam had joined them. Adam Milligan, who had so much to deal with of his own, but who was always willing to cast everything else aside and help Tarot keep the pieces of himself together.

"I apologize regardless," Castiel sighed, trying to look into his brother's eyes, which was hard to achieve with Tarot's erratic blinking, "It was necessary, but I want you to know that the knowledge that I did this to you is... troublesome."

Castiel couldn't with a clear conscience say that he wouldn't do the same again, if he were faced with the same situation. Binding Tarot to Bobby Singer ensured that his brother couldn't betray them. In a way, it was a safety measure for both sides. They could be sure that Tarot wouldn't give information to anybody and Tarot could be sure that he wouldn't turn traitor under torture again. All that didn't keep Castiel from feeling a pang of guilt every time he saw his brother though.

"It's... okay..." Tarot replied sincerely, mustering up as much courage as he could to meet his brother's eyes as he continued speaking, "There is... is... no use... dw-dwelling in the p-past. T-t-time al-always moves... forward not... not back."

Castiel inclined his head, smiling slightly. There was silence between them after that, but neither Tarot, nor Castiel felt it was uncomfortable.

 

* * *

 

 

Adam walked into the kitchen long before Tarot had expected him to. The seraph knew that his friend tended to wake up early some days, especially when there was something on his mind that bothered him, but Adam hadn't seemed troubled when he had retired for the night.

"Hey, Terry, can I talk to you for a minute?" Adam asked after he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to the angel. The youngest Winchester had woken up earlier than usual with the nagging feeling that there was something he was supposed to do. Adam hadn't taken long in figuring out what exactly had gotten his mind spinning much too early this morning. He had put off having this talk with Tarot for some time, his subconscious mind had to rebel against that sooner or later.

"Every- everybody wants to talk today," Tarot answered, giving his friend a small smile, "C-Castiel was here."

"Right," Adam nodded slightly, warming his hands on his coffee cup for a moment before he asked, "Does that mean you need some time for yourself?"

"I... I always like... talking to you," Tarot clarified, putting his clock parts aside to show Adam that he was ready for a conversation, "It's not... a chore."

"Thanks, dude, I'm glad you see it that way," Adam smiled, pushing his cup aside. He didn't know how to start, which was unusual for Adam. Normally he knew what had to be said and he just said it. However, in this case it was about something he wished Tarot would agree to, but there was a lot more to it.

"Look, the thing is... it's about your wings," Adam finally started to explain. There was probably no perfect way to address the topic, so he'd just have to settle for the best one he could come up with that moment. "Gabriel can heal you. You just have to..."

Tarot shook his head jerkily, closing his eyes instinctively, as he hugged himself tight and started to rock forward and back in his seat. He didn't want to speak about this or even consider it. There were a lot of things wrong with him and he knew it. The problem was, taking all that away, who would he be anymore? What would be taken away from him? Tarot wanted to put his doubts and fears into words, but the prospect of having his whole world turned upside down yet again was overwhelming.

"Listen to me, Terry," Adam spoke in a gentle yet firm tone, wrapping his arm around the distraught angel's shoulders to still his compulsive rocking, "This is not about changing who you are. You're my best friend and you're awesome just the way you are."

Adam wouldn't dream of changing anything about Tarot's personality. What he was suggesting was strictly about fixing the things physically wrong with the seraph. Adam couldn't get the picture of Tarot's mutilated wings out of his head and his friend had admitted that they hurt every damn day. The youngest Winchester simply wanted the angel to get treatment for them, nothing more and nothing less.

"This is your shot at being free of the pain they inflicted on you," Adam added after Tarot's breathing had evened out some. He kept rubbing the angel's upper arm soothingly before he finished speaking, "Think about it, please. Not for me, or your brothers, just for yourself."

The sandy-haired seraph sighed deeply and tried to relax. Strangely enough, even though Adam's words were what had upset him in the first place, the fact that Adam was still there and holding him helped Tarot to get some semblance of order into his thoughts. There was the part of him that was panicking at the thought of another angel -an archangel no less- once again touching him and doing things he wouldn't have any control over. Another part of Tarot saw the logic in Adam's statement though. The seraph tried to focus on the chance his friend had talked about rather than on the risks and his fears, but it wasn't easy.

"You... you w-would...?" Tarot stammered, turning his head to look into Adam's eyes.

"Stand next to you the entire time and kick Gabriel's ass, if he makes one wrong move?" the youngest Winchester asked with a small smirk, "You better believe it."

The seraph's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he exhaled soundly through his nose and smiled at Adam. Of course, there was nothing a human could do to stop Gabriel from doing whatever he wanted, but Tarot didn't doubt that Adam would try everything humanly possible, if push came to shove. Rationally, the seraph also knew that Gabriel was on their side and wouldn't do anything to harm him, but it was hard to trust the archangel. Trusting Adam wasn't hard at all.

"I... I... n-need t-t-time," Tarot replied, nodding to himself a couple of times. Maybe he just had to get used to the idea and it would appear less scary once he had thought it through in peace.

"Okay, sure, take as much time as you need," Adam agreed, patting Tarot's shoulder once more before he pulled away completely. The youngest Winchester was confident that his friend would make the right decision whenever he was ready. Adam vowed not to push the matter in any way. He had voiced his thought on the topic, everything else was up to Tarot.

Adam reached for his coffee cup again before he nodded toward the clock on the table, "Wanna tell me something about your new project?"


	28. Chapter 28

**27**

 

"You okay?" Sam asked, concern lacing his voice as he helped Adam to get back to his feet.

True to his word, the younger Winchester had found a simple salt and burn around Sioux Falls, so they could take Adam out on his first ghost hunt. To his credit, Dean hadn't objected too much. He hadn't even turned the music up too high for them to talk on their way to Garretson.

Sam had looked into rumors about possible haunted places in the vicinity of Sioux Falls and came across reports of people claiming they had seen a ghostly figure around the Devil's Gulch Park. Chances were that it was a complete fluke and the witnesses were just making things up because of the park's connection to Jesse James. However, one of the reports claimed that the ghost was a woman. All in all, it wasn't a lead they would follow usually -the specter, if there even was one, seemed harmless enough- but it seemed perfect for the little trip with his brothers Adam said he wanted.

"Uh... yeah..." the youngest brother replied, shaking his head a couple times to clear his thoughts, "That was..."

As it turned out, their ghost was that of a local woman who died in the woods under mysterious circumstances. The ghost hadn't turned malevolent yet, but since she was already confronting random people to scare, it would only be a matter of time until somebody got hurt.

Of course, Rose DeSilver didn't like it one bit when Dean dug up her grave and it was typical Winchester luck that she went after Adam first. To his credit, the youngest Winchester nearly got the ghost with the iron bar he was holding, but she managed to throw him a couple feet through the air before he could swing at her. Luckily it was just seconds later that Dean set her bones on fire and put an end to Rose, once and for all.

"Uncomfortable, annoying, scary?" the older Winchester suggested when Adam couldn't seem to find the right word to describe his experience. Dean climbed out of his grave, brushing some of the dirt off his jeans before they started to walk back to the Impala together.

"Not quite as bad as my last run-in with monsters," Adam clarified with a shrug, wincing slightly when he moved his shoulder. He was fairly certain that nothing was really damaged, but he'd probably have a few colorful bruises.

"Piece of advice for the future, if you want to be a hunter, don't make a lethal incident your basis of comparison for what is bad," Dean snorted, putting the shovel back into the trunk of the Impala. Adam really needed to have better standards for what was and wasn't bearable than saying 'that's not quite as bad as getting eaten by ghouls'.

"About that," Adam replied, "Hunting really isn't for me."

"First hunts hardly ever go smoothly," Sam stated in a gentle tone, looking at his younger brother to determine how sure he was about his statement. The younger Winchester wasn't going to talk Adam into anything he really didn't want to do, but if Adam falsely thought that he hadn't held up well Sam wanted him to know that wasn't the case.

"Thanks Sam, I just don't see myself..." Adam started, before he trailed off. He knew full well that his brothers had been raised as hunters and would most likely stick with it until they died, but it wasn't the kind of life Adam wanted for himself. After being thrown into all this he wanted to see if it was something he could roll with, but he couldn't.

"Doing this forever?" Sam asked with a small smile as they all got into the Impala. The younger Winchester certainly understood the wish to leave the hunting life behind and realistically speaking, Adam was the one of them who had the best shot at achieving exactly that. He would have that chance once they had dealt with the Apocalypse anyway.

"Then more power to you," Dean stated, throwing a quick glance at Adam through the rearview mirror. There was no doubt that they could have trained Adam to be a hunter, but the older Winchester couldn't say that he liked the idea. It was hard enough to always keep an eye on Sam, having Adam around as well would only be stressful and risky.

"No worries, I won't be sitting in your backseat much longer," the youngest brother huffed, turning his head to look out of the window as they drove away from the cemetery, "I'll just keep reading up on things in Bobby's library."

The fact that Adam didn't want to be a hunter didn't mean that he could forget about all the nasty things out there. He wasn't going to fall victim to one of them ever again if he could help it. Reading about ways to protect himself and the people close to him was the logical thing to do. Staying as far away from all things Supernatural as he could was the best precaution he could take, though.

"Hey wait, pull over there!" Adam suddenly exclaimed a few minutes later.

"What? Why?" Dean asked, sounding baffled. To his credit, the older Winchester pulled into the big parking lot Adam apparently wanted them to go to before even getting an answer to his question.

"There's a department store! I need to buy some stuff," Adam explained, "All Terry has to wear is Sam's old clothes..."

Dean groaned deeply, but drove up to the Walmart at the far end of the parking lot, anyway. They had stopped already, they might as well get some shopping done. They could use some more salt and other supplies anyway. Besides, if they were there already they could also buy some pie.

"What?" Adam asked defensively, glaring at the back of Dean's head. He had voiced a reasonable request and his oldest brother hadn't even let him finish explaining before he had already voiced his displeasure. Granted, Dean wasn't the kind of guy who went shopping for fun, but neither was Adam. This was about necessity.

"Never mind him, Adam," Sam replied in a calming tone, "Dean just can't figure out how you could possibly know what size to buy for somebody other than yourself."

The younger Winchester threw a side-glance toward his older brother, daring him to object. Apparently, Dean didn't want to get into an argument for once though. In fact, the look on his face said that the older Winchester was thinking of something else entirely. Something pleasant.

"It's not that hard. Terry is as tall as I am and just a bit skinnier," Adam shrugged. Tarot only tended to look very small and breakable, because he always wore Sam's seriously oversized sweaters and pants. Adam thought that the angel would prefer sticking to the roomy sweaters he nearly disappeared in, but he should at least have some pants and t-shirts in his size. Not to mention the other reason why Adam looked forward to a little shopping trip.

"Why doesn't he just wear your clothes then?" Sam asked. The moment the words left his mouth, the younger Winchester had the bad feeling that he already knew the answer to his question.

"Newsflash, the angels didn't pack me a suitcase when they dragged me back down here," Adam replied with a humorless chuckle. "I've been wearing a mix between your old stuff and Bobby's ever since I came back."

"Seriously?" Dean frowned deeply. By the looks of it, the same thought running through the older Winchester's mind was also bothering Sam. Neither one of them had even considered the implications of Adam coming back with nothing, but the clothes on his back. Of course, their younger brother had been in Bobby's care, but if it had been about either Sam or Dean it would have been unthinkable for the other not to consider all the basic things needed.

"I'd murder someone for my own set of underwear at this point," Adam retorted. Nothing in his tone gave away if he was joking. Bobby always made sure that the two young men living with him had everything they needed, but the old hunter wasn't into going shopping for more than absolutely necessary. At least not as long as he could find something still useable somewhere around the house.

"Dude gross," Dean groaned, pulling a face as he parked the Impala. They really needed to go shopping.

 

* * *

 

 

"I don't want to hear you say one more word about this!" Bobby stated harshly, only keeping his voice on a moderate level because of the woman currently in his kitchen. In a less emotional situation the hunter would have realized that the seraph only tried to warn him, but as things were Bobby was seeing red.

"And don't talk to anybody else about this either," the hunter added, his tone still hard and demanding, "You hear me?"

Tarot nodded jerkily, hugging himself tighter as he tried to keep his trembling under control. The angel wouldn't be standing much longer, if he couldn't get a grip on himself. Tarot tried to breathe through it, like Adam always told him to.

"Don't be so hard on the boy, Bobby," the blonde woman said in a gentle tone, putting the plate and glass she had been carrying on the table in front of Bobby. The hunter looked like he hadn't gotten enough meals that were prepared with love, so one of the first things she had decided to do was to get into the kitchen and rectify that mistake.

"Karen," Bobby sighed, giving his newly resurrected wife a slightly forced smile. The hunter hadn't meant for her to witness any of this. It was bad enough when he had tested Karen in every way he knew to find out what exactly she was. Bobby hadn't believed at first that she really could be his wife, of course he hadn't, but he hadn't been able to find anything to suggest that she was anything else. Tarot had only gotten so far as to stammer that she was unnatural in some way, before Bobby had told him to shut up. The hunter was already sorry for snapping at the angel, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

"Look at that, you scared him," Karen stated in a mildly reprimanding tone, giving Bobby the same warm smile she directed at Tarot anyway.

The seraph was still hugging himself, trembling. He tried to block everything around him out to the best of his abilities. There was nothing Tarot could do about the situation, so he had to somehow deal with it. Ignoring anything out of the usual going on for as long as it took Adam and his brothers to return so they could do something about it, seemed like the best option he had. If only it was that easy.

"I'm sorry," Bobby apologized, softening his tone considerably. All the hunter wanted was to make Karen as happy as he could while he still had her and it was obvious that she wanted him to apologize to the angel. Bobby didn't expect it would make much of a difference to Tarot, but it made his wife's smile brighter still.

"See? It's all okay," Karen told Tarot in an upbeat tone, before she suggested, "Why don't we go to the kitchen and I get you a big slice of pie?"

The seraph screwed his eyes shut, as he nodded jerkily. He didn't want to go anywhere with Karen Singer, but he also didn't want to upset Bobby again. Tarot was only glad that the woman stayed patiently behind for a few more moments, giving the angel the chance to take a few deep, calming breaths. The kitchen was a familiar place, a good place, he just had to focus on that. Besides, Adam would come back and he'd know what to do.

"I love you," Karen whispered to Bobby, leaning in to kiss him. Her husband was tense and worried, she'd have to be blind not to see it. Not to mention the guilt she could see every time she looked at him, but Karen wasn't going to mention any of that.

"I love you, too," Bobby replied, doing his best to smile. The hunter never thought that he would get another chance to tell his wife how much he loved her, but now that he had it, he found that it made him feel bad as much as it made him feel good.

Karen walked back into the kitchen where the seraph was waiting for her. Tarot was sitting at the table, keeping his eyes down and burrowing his fingers into his upper arms. His lips were moving, but no sound came out. All in all, the angel looked pained and Karen was determined to do something about it. Her main concern was Bobby's happiness, but there was somebody else who needed her care around too.

"There you go," Karen said with a smile, putting a piece of still warm pie in front of the angel, "You do eat, right?"

Tarot kept repeating his mental mantra that Adam would come back and make things right, as his head shook erratically. Bobby never said that he wasn't allowed to speak to Karen, only that he wasn't meant to say anything about her to anybody else, but he couldn't find the words to tell her that he didn't feel like he could eat anything that moment. Tarot didn't like having a stranger's attention on him on a good day and this clearly wasn't a good day.

"I never thought I'd meet an angel, but then it seems a lot of things have changed since I was here last," Karen went on talking, as if it didn't bother her that the seraph kept completely quiet and was practically trembling.

Tarot forced his fingers to unclench and put his hands on his knees instead of the vise-like grip he had on his upper arms before. Adam didn't like it when the angel hurt himself, even if he did it accidentally. He had to be mindful of the way he treated his body.

"Did Bobby really scare you so badly? I'm sure he didn't mean it," Karen asked in a gentle tone, taking a seat next to the seraph, but taking care to let him have his personal space, "Bobby has a gruff exterior, but he's the sweetest person once you get past that."

Tarot knew he was meant to say something to that. It shouldn't have been hard to say that Karen was right. Tarot knew that Bobby was much nicer than his often harsh tone suggested. The hunter had done a lot of things for the angel. It was due to Bobby that Tarot had gotten his hands on all the clocks he had repaired in the past months and the hunter continued to find clocks and spare parts for him. Bobby had also given him -and Adam- shelter and played card games with them when his time allowed it.

Tarot took a deep breath, trying to find any words at all to reply. "I... I..."

"It's okay, sweetheart, take your time," Karen said encouragingly when the angel closed his eyes tightly once more.

"I... know," Tarot finally managed to get out. His shoulders sagged in exhaustion, but also relief once the words had left his mouth. It wasn't impossible to speak to Karen and the woman seemed happy to hear him talk. Tarot dared to sneak a peek into her face, which made her smile brightly. It would have been contagious, if the angel hadn't been wound so tight.

"I'm glad you do," Karen stated, standing up and returning to the stove. She wasn't sure why she felt the strong compulsion to bake, but it seemed like a good thing to do anyway. On the whim of a sudden query however, Karen turned back to the seraph. "Did your mother ever show you how to bake pies?"

"A-angels don't... don't have... m-mothers," Tarot stammered out, after collecting his thoughts for a few long moments. Technically, God was mother, father, the sun and the moon to all angels, but even so nobody had ever shown the angel how to bake pies.

"That's sad," Karen replied frowning, before her tone got encouraging again, "Guess I'll have to show you then."


	29. Chapter 29

**28**

 

"Bobby?" Sam called the moment the three brothers walked through the front door. Their trip to the mall had been cut short when Dean discovered a strange story on the front page of a local newspaper. Apparently, a man had been strangled to death in the part of Sioux Falls where Bobby lived. The murder by itself probably would have made the front page, but it wouldn't have caused the Winchesters to look twice. Except for the fact that an eyewitness claimed that the man had been killed by a dead man.

"Have you heard of...?" Dean asked a second later, before Bobby suddenly appeared in front of the brothers and interrupted him.

"Weren't you supposed to be gone for longer?" the oldest hunter asked clearly on edge. By the looks of it, Bobby would have liked nothing better than to shove them back out of the door, which was unusual to say the least.

"It's always good to see you too," Adam said sarcastically, dropping the plastic bags he was carrying to the floor. He managed to get some basic clothes for himself and Tarot before Dean had insisted that another hunt was waiting and they had to get going. Not that his oldest brother had been in enough of a hurry to leave to forgo buying the pie he had been talking about the entire time they had spent in the clothes section.

"How long did you think a routine salt and burn would take?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow at Bobby. They had been gone for a day and then some, which meant things had abnormally gone as planned for once. Granted, it was unusual for them that anything went according to plan, so the oldest hunter's surprise was probably understandable.

"You... uh... look a little different," Sam observed, clearing his throat a little awkwardly before he made a vague gesture toward Bobby's new-looking shirt and his for once combed hair then asked, "Any reason for the...?"

It was obvious that their return was disturbing Bobby in some way, as it was just as obvious that the old hunter didn't want to come clean.

"What are you, my mother? Bite me!" Bobby snapped, earning astonished looks from all three Winchesters with it. Of course, saying that the old hunter was mild mannered and wouldn't harm a fly would be a lie, but he also didn't make a habit of jumping at their throats over nothing.

"Looks like something's already bitten you," Adam commented as he picked up his bags again. If Bobby was in a foul mood -and possibly had been for a while- it was reasonable to assume that Tarot had picked up on it. Adam had to make sure that his friend was okay and his side trip gave him the perfect excuse to go looking for him anyway. "Where's Terry? I got stuff to show him."

Bobby crossed his arms in front of his chest, but the expression on his face could only be described as guilty. The old hunter's eyes flickered toward the kitchen, but he nearly looked panicky when Adam made a move toward the door.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean demanded. Bobby was clearly not acting like himself, but the older Winchester was willing to give him one chance to explain before he broke out the salt and holy water to test the old hunter with. The answer to Dean's question came in an unexpected way just a second later.

"Bobby? You didn't say we were expecting guests," Karen stated from the now open kitchen door, smiling at the four men. Luckily, Tarot had been a great help with the last few pies, so there should be enough for everyone. The newly arrived men all looked like they could use a few home cooked meals as well.

"That's only fair, he didn't tell us to expect... _this_ either," Dean replied with a slight smirk, giving Karen a thorough once-over. She wasn't exactly the older Winchester's type, but he could see Bobby going for sweet and homely. Dean didn't know how right he was about that.

"Hey, watch it, she's my wife!" Bobby retorted in a warning tone. Karen's real identity wouldn't have stayed secret for long, even if he had tried to make up a convincing lie, so Bobby decided to spare himself from seeing Dean flirt with her.

"You're... Karen?" the oldest Winchester asked, his eyes comically wide as he looked at Karen once more with different eyes.

"I better call Gabriel," Sam mumbled, before he turned around and left the house again to send a message to the archangel. One of these days the younger Winchester would have to finally tell Dean about the amulet Gabriel had given him, but this -once more- clearly wasn't the moment to do it.

 

* * *

 

 

"Oh boy," Gabriel stated, rubbing his chin. The archangel's eyes were glued to Karen Singer until Sam put a hand on his shoulder and finally brought Gabriel's attention back to the room at large with it. The archangel put his hand over Sam's on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

All inhabitants of the house were assembled in the living room. Bobby was clearly on edge, glancing toward his wife ever so often, while Karen seemed mostly perplexed by all the attention she was getting. Tarot was more nervous than he usually was, even with Adam around, but Gabriel didn't think that his brother was behaving outside of normal -for his standard- parameters, at least.

"That doesn't sound good," Dean commented as casually as he could. It was obvious that Bobby accepted that the woman standing in front of him really was his dead wife and that meant whatever bad news Gabriel had for them would most likely be devastating to the old hunter. The older Winchester couldn't deny that his first instinct was to put a bullet between the woman's eyes, but that didn't mean that he didn't wish for a much more pleasant resolution, for Bobby's sake.

"Might be a bit of an understatement, Dean-o," Gabriel replied, before he turned toward Karen again, "You remember a guy in black, thin, prominent features, kinda creepy?"

Karen looked taken aback by the question, which was enough of an answer for the archangel. Apparently Bobby didn't need to hear her actually say it out loud either.

"Karen, why don't you...?" the old hunter suggested, resting his hand against Karen's back and nodding toward the kitchen. She had been working in the kitchen nearly nonstop since she had come back one day earlier, so it didn't seem like the worst suggestion Bobby could have made.

"Get coffee and pie for everyone? Wonderful idea," Karen smiled, squeezing Bobby's shoulder for a moment before she turned toward the kitchen. She only paused to look at Tarot and ask, "Would you give me a hand?"

The seraph nodded after a moment of hesitation. He wanted to make himself useful and help Karen, but he wasn't sure if leaving the living room -and Adam with it- was the right thing to do. Then again, the youngest Winchester hadn't given him any sign that he should stay and -to be brutally honest- Tarot doubted that anybody else even cared what he did.

"What are you playing at?" Bobby asked in a pained voice once Karen and Tarot had left. The old hunter wasn't sure who exactly Gabriel had described to his wife, but whoever it was did not sound like good news.

"She's been touched by Death himself," the archangel answered. There were a couple of beings who could bring someone back to life and they all left their mark, like Castiel’s handprint on Dean. Death's mark was on Karen clear as day to the angel. The problem was that the mark alone didn't mean anything. People brought back by demons weren't bound to be monsters and people brought back by angels weren't necessarily saints. The real problem was that there were so many ways to add very unpleasant side effects to a resurrection.

"Death, as in the Grimm Reaper? As in one of the horsemen we need to kill?" Dean exclaimed, ignoring the warning glare Bobby gave him. The oldest Winchester couldn't say that he liked the revelation Gabriel had just made, but focusing on how to get rid of Death was much more satisfying than trying to figure out how to kill Karen.

"You can't kill Death," the archangel replied, bursting the oldest Winchester's bubble with his words.

"Woah, wait, killing Death is a part of the plan _you_ gave us!" Dean shot back, glaring at Gabriel accusingly. They already had two of the four rings they needed to open Lucifer's cage and hopefully shove him back into it, for crying out loud! It had cost them to get the rings, too. Not to mention that Dean already had an axe to grind with Death over what had happened the day Lucifer had summoned him back to Earth.

"No, getting the ring off his finger is part of the plan," Gabriel clarified seriously, before he went on in a more casual tone, "You can't kill Death, but you can ask him for a favor very nicely. Some bribing might be a good idea, too."

Sam sighed which immediately made the archangel squeeze his hand again. The younger Winchester's head was spinning from all the information they had gotten in the last hour and he could only imagine what all this had to feel like for Bobby. The case was extremely personal for the old hunter, after all.

"How the hell do you bribe Death?" Dean asked in a sour tone. Sure, it was good to know that they might as well save the bullets if they ever met Death, but the thought of what an entity like Death would consider an appropriate bribe made the hairs on the back of the older Winchester's neck stand on edge.

"Hot dogs, pizza with extra cheese, just about anything deep fried," Gabriel shrugged casually, "But I doubt he's stuck around to talk to us."

Bobby's face fell noticeably. For a moment the old hunter had entertained the possibility that resurrecting people was Death's way of catching their attention and nothing more, but apparently the archangel didn't believe so.

"What's this all about?" Sam sighed, moving a little closer to Gabriel. The younger Winchester wanted to hear that everything would be okay, but he knew that chances for that were very slim. The archangel's presence alone was comforting though and Sam was willing to take whatever he could get.

"I wish I knew," Gabriel admitted, meeting Sam's eyes for a moment before he let go of the taller man's hand and wrapped an arm around his waist instead, "Might have been Lucifer's idea, might have been Death's, or maybe something else entirely."

Dean groaned loudly -partly to alert the two PDA-offenders to the fact that others were present too- and dragged a palm over his face in frustration. The older Winchester would have killed someone for some good news at that moment. Judging by his stony face, Adam felt about the same.

"So what? We just sit around with our thumbs up our asses and wait for shit to hit the fan?" Dean huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. It was an unacceptable option, but the older Winchester couldn't help, but suspect that it was the only one they had.

"Or we keep an eye on everyone who's come back recently, try to find a pattern and hope for the best," Bobby suggested with a shrug that did nothing to hide how guilty the old hunter felt about not mentioning that he had made a list of everyone who had been resurrected earlier.

"Everyone who...?" Dean repeated after Bobby, before he threw his arms in the air showily and exclaimed, "Awesome, just awesome."

 

* * *

 

 

"Can't even leave you alone for two days," Adam huffed out a chuckle as he sat down next to Tarot. The seraph flinched, but met the other man's eyes which let Adam know that his friend wasn't unsettled by his very presence, but by his words. "Hey, I was kidding."

Tarot tried to smile, but all he managed was to get the corners of his mouth to twitch in a lackluster way. The seraph continued to pick at invisible lint on the sleeve of his hoodie.

"Looks like you're getting along well with Karen," Adam stated after a couple of moments of prolonged silence. The youngest Winchester had watched carefully how his friend acted around Karen and to his surprise he found that Tarot seemed at ease around her. For his standards, anyway.

For a moment, Tarot wasn't sure if he could talk about Karen at all. The command Bobby had given him was vague and the seraph wasn't completely sure how he would tell where the line he couldn't cross was. The fact that he was able to find and use the words to describe how he felt about Karen spoke for itself.

"She's... nice," the angel mumbled.

"Yeah, I was under that impression too," Adam agreed, doing his best to smile at Tarot. He couldn't bring himself to act like everything was fine for long, though. Everyone around tended to baby the two of them, but Adam and Tarot were adults and they were in the middle of things just as much as everybody else. Whatever was going to happen would affect them and Adam wanted to know what his friend thought so maybe they could be at least somewhat prepared. "Look, I should be the last to talk, I know that, but... doesn't all this strike you as wrong?"

Tarot tried to say that at first he had thought that something was very wrong too. The seraph wanted to tell Adam about how Karen had shown up out of the blue, about the tests Bobby had done and about how Karen was a good person who didn't deserve any of this, but he found he couldn't say anything about the matter. Tarot couldn't focus his thoughts on the matter and came up blank when he tried to put the fragments of his thoughts into words.

"Hey, hey, what...?" Adam asked alarmed when the seraph screwed his eyes shut and pressed his palms against his temples.

The more Tarot tried to get a grip on his thoughts, the more they fell apart on him. The seraph shivered violently, trying to find a single word he could say. However his thoughts were still focused on Karen Singer and everything he wasn't allowed to say.

"Calm down, Terry. Deep breaths," Adam instructed, trying to keep calm. He didn't know why his friend was falling apart, but he knew that Tarot needed someone to help hold him together, even if Adam didn't know exactly how to do that. Somehow just acting like he knew what he was doing seemed to be enough anyway.

"Adam!" Tarot exclaimed, grabbing fistfuls of Adam's shirt, snapping out of the circle of thoughts he had been trapped in. The seraph could focus on his friend. It was safe to think about Adam. He just had to keep his thoughts and especially every intention to voice them away from anything concerning Karen's condition. Tarot's shoulders sagged in relief as he leaned his head against Adam's collar bone without thinking about it.

"There you go," Adam sighed relieved and patted the angel's back encouragingly. He was burning to ask what the hell had just happened, but it was too risky. Adam would probably have to work it out for himself. In the very least he couldn't ask Tarot while the angel was still worked up.

"I... I... c-c-can't..." the seraph stammered, pulling his head away from Adam's chest so he could look at the human.

"Can't what?" Adam asked carefully. It looked like Tarot wanted him to know whatever it was he was trying to get out, so the youngest Winchester encouraged him to speak out.

"T-t-talk about... about it," Tarot clarified, willing Adam to understand what he was saying. The seraph couldn't speak about it, it was impossible for him. Bobby had given him a command and Tarot hadn't known where the limits of it were, but he did now. The limitation was there and it was okay.

"That's okay," Adam replied, giving the angel a small smile, "You don't have to talk, if you don't want to."

Tarot forced a smile and tried to get his fingers to unclench so he could let go of Adam. His friend unfortunately misunderstood what he meant to tell him, but the seraph could work with that as long as it meant he could safely stay away from almost breaking his orders.

 

* * *

 

 

"What are the chances that this is going to have a happy end?" Sam asked with a small, hopeful smile. The younger Winchester and Gabriel were hiding outside of Clay Thompson's house. The formerly dead man had already killed once, so it seemed like a good place to start with. This far it looked like he was simply glad to be back with his family, though. Clay's wife and son seemed overjoyed to have him back as well. The little family made a sweet picture, but Sam had the sinking feeling that it wouldn't last.

"Death trumps archangel. Whatever's going to happen, there won't be much I can do against it," Gabriel replied, touching Sam's cheek with the back of his fingers as their eyes met, "I'm sorry."

Sam sighed, but nodded. Rationally, the younger Winchester had known what the answer would be even before the archangel had given it to him.

"Hey, we'll be okay," Gabriel added after a few moments of silence, before he leaned in to brush his lips against Sam's.

The younger Winchester smiled and intertwined their fingers. Call him selfish, but at that moment he knew everything he needed to know.


	30. Chapter 30

**29**

 

As it turned out, Bobby kept track and made a list of every person who had returned from their grave in the past two days. Dean still couldn't quite believe that Bobby -or any hunter for that matter- could have watched all this happening without doing something about it. Then again, the old hunter obviously wasn't in his right mind.

The older Winchester sighed audibly. Of course, Bobby was personally affected and Dean couldn't imagine what he himself would do, if he was faced with his mother or father suddenly coming back from the dead, looking for all the world just like the people they had been before.

Dean and Castiel were currently hiding outside the home of the old woman who had been resurrected first, according to Bobby's notes. Everything was quiet -too quiet really- which gave the older Winchester too much time with little to do, but think everything through. The more he considered their situation, the worse he felt about it.

"This is a very interesting case," Castiel spoke, bringing Dean out of his thoughts and back to the present with it.

The older Winchester raised an eyebrow at his friend. The seraph was completely serious about his statement for what it looked like and he seemed genuinely fascinated by the old couple sitting on their couch, watching TV.

"Really, Cas, really?" Dean groaned, "Why don't you tell me what's so interesting, 'cause I'm about to fall asleep here."

Observing a house, waiting for something to happen wasn't exactly what the older Winchester would call interesting and this far, the case was nothing more than just that. In a way, it would be best for everyone if there never was anything more than that. Dean didn't believe that people randomly getting their loved ones back wouldn't turn sour very quickly in one way or another, but the hypothetic possibility of them just being usual people who had been given a few additional years was the best case scenario. Right, like they ever got a best case...

"This woman should be dead, but she is behaving in a completely normal way," Castiel explained patiently. It was fascinating to see people who had the end of their lives behind them already falling into old patterns and living on as normal people. Still, they were visibly -to the angelic eye- dead, no matter what their vital signs said. Castiel couldn't say that he had seen anything like it before.

"Uh, yeah, apparently that's what happens when Death goes around doing whatever the hell he wants," Dean replied with a shrug. The older Winchester realized it was likely that Castiel's fascination with the case stemmed from the same fact which made Dean uneasy. The angel simply looked at everything through different eyes.

"Actually, that is another interesting aspect of all this," Castiel frowned, tearing his eyes away from the window to look back at Dean instead, "Despite what you might think, Death is not known for erratic behavior."

The blue-eyed seraph understood that a lot of humans, including Dean, viewed Death as the ultimate enemy, the fiend they couldn't beat and who kept taking the things they loved dearly away from them. Death of course was an unstoppable force, but a completely neutral one. Everyone, the good and the bad alike, were bound to fall victim to Death sooner or later.

"Whatever," Dean huffed, "Lucifer's pulling his strings, so it's probably Satan's fault, anyway."

In the end, blaming just about anything he could on Lucifer always worked.

 

* * *

 

 

There was a small pile of candy wrappers on the ground next to Gabriel's feet. Observing a dead person, who also was most likely a murderer, shouldn't have been this boring. At least he had a steady supply of sugary goods and most importantly Sam right next to him.

If Clay Thompson had killed the person in the trailer park, it hadn't been the start of a rampage, that much was for sure. Clay was playing a board game with his wife and son and wasn't even cheating for all Gabriel could tell. The archangel took his lollipop out of his mouth to share his thoughts with Sam just as they were bathed in the lights of a police cruiser.

"Hands where I can see them," Sheriff Jody Mills demanded the moment she got out of her car with her gun pointed at Sam and Gabriel. It hadn't been hard to find the two men hiding outside the Thompsons' house that the worried neighbor had called about, it was to be seen how easy dealing with the situation would be.

"Officer, I can explain!" Gabriel exclaimed, keeping his arms in the air as instructed, even as he turned his head to Sam grinning, "I always wanted to say that."

The younger Winchester groaned silently. Getting attention from the police hadn't been part of his plan for the evening. At least, Gabriel seemed to be having fun. Sam wasn't completely sure if that was a good or a bad thing, though. The younger Winchester consoled himself with the thought that even if Gabriel should provoke the cop enough to take a shot at them, chances that it would do any harm were astronomically slim. If you had to get into trouble, getting into trouble alongside an archangel at least had its perks.

"Start with explaining why you're trespassing and stalking people on my watch," Jody stated in a authoritative tone. At least the two troublemakers seemed more bothersome than dangerous, but the sheriff kept her gun ready just to be on the safe side. Jody wasn't sure if she would have to take them in yet, but some people suddenly turned violent when things got serious. It never hurt to be cautious, especially now that she had both her husband and their little boy waiting for her back at home.

"Oh come on, you can't call that stalking," Gabriel replied in a lecturing tone, dramatically waving his lollipop in the air while he was speaking, "We've only been watching them for an evening and..."

"Gabriel," Sam hissed, nudging the archangel's foot with his shoe. Gabriel's little tirade clearly wasn't helping. The younger Winchester would have liked to make the sheriff believe that they were harmless and very sorry for possibly scaring anybody. They would of course leave immediately if the sheriff allowed it with a 'Thank you very much, Ma'am'. It wasn't surprising, but inconvenient that Gabriel seemed to have different plans.

"Okay okay," the archangel answered with a light shrug. The short moment of silence that followed had both Sam and Jody nearly believing that Gabriel had gotten the message and would keep quiet, but then the archangel spoke again. "Why don't you explain why you don't care about dead people rising from their graves?"

"Much better," Sam muttered, as he held out his arms in submission for the sheriff to fasten the handcuffs.

 

* * *

 

 

Adam considered offering to help his brothers again, but both Sam and Dean had their respective angelic buddies with them and thus, weren't in desperate need of more –non grace powered- helping hands. The youngest Winchester also had to admit that he didn't like the thought of leaving Tarot alone with Bobby and Karen again. Something fishy was going on and Adam had the strange feeling that it wasn't only about Karen's status as undead.

The angel seemed a little bit twitchier than he had been before Adam had left for the hunt with his brothers. The youngest Winchester would have liked to believe that it was only the presence of a new person around who made Tarot nervous, but strangely enough the seraph seemed nearly comfortable with Karen. There had to be something else that was weighing the angel down and Adam wasn't going anywhere until he figured it out.

"See? That's how clothes are supposed to fit," Adam grinned, patting Tarot's shoulder amicably before he added in a teasing tone, "Now we won't have to worry you're going to get lost in your sweater."

It was a calm evening at Bobby's and the youngest Winchester had no intention of stirring things up unnecessarily. His plan to figure things out hinged much more on silent observation. At least, that gave Adam the chance to finally show Tarot the new clothes he had bought for him. It was nearly amusing how the seraph didn't seem to see the point in getting him a bigger wardrobe, but was still so grateful that Adam had thought of him during his little shopping trip.

"It wasn't... that big," Tarot replied, ducking his head. Truth be told, the seraph liked the old clothes he had worn for the past months. They didn't feel restricting and he liked hiding in the too big hoodie as Adam called it. Then again, the clothes his friend had given to him made Tarot look much more normal. He probably wouldn't look like the ‘black sheep’ of the group to an outsider when he was standing next to Adam, at least not at the first glance.

"Dude, this one's like half the size and still oversized!" Adam pointed out, clearly exaggerating. Sam's clothes were too big for the sandy-haired angel, but they weren't that big. Sam may have been tall, but he was fit. Besides, Adam figured that Tarot wouldn't like any tight clothes, so everything he had grabbed for the angel was meant to be a loose fit and if they crossed the line between 'loose fit' and 'too big', well that’s what belts were for.

Tarot smiled slightly and ducked his head again; the seraph took a deep breath before he gave Adam's shoulder a push in retaliation for all the teasing the human had done. Adam only laughed and wrapped an arm around Tarot's shoulders as they entered the dining room.

Bobby had a piece of blueberry pie and a steaming mug of coffee in front of him while his wife sat next to the old hunter in silence, just watching him eat. Bobby had never taken enough care of himself, but Karen was there to make that all better.

"Oh look at you! Such a handsome young man," Karen exclaimed happily when Adam and Tarot entered giving her a good look at the angel's new outfit. The seraph didn't look quite as lost as he had in his old clothes, but it was still undeniably his style with the grey sweat shirt, black t-shirt and blue jeans.

Karen squeezed Bobby's shoulder before she stood up and approached the angel to brush some stray strands of hair out of his face.

"Karen, don't..." Bobby tried to warn his wife, before she could touch Tarot and make him freak out. The old hunter wanted to save them both the distress, but he wasn't fast enough as Karen's fingers had already made contact with the seraph's forehead.

Strangely enough, nothing happened. Karen brushed the offending hair out of Tarot's face and gave him a warm smile. The angel smiled back shyly, showing no signs that the contact was unwanted.

"Huh, that's new," Adam muttered under his breath. For a moment, the youngest Winchester couldn't help wondering if the tension around was due to Karen and Tarot getting closer and Bobby possibly being jealous, but a quick look to the older hunter revealed that he was nothing but astonished and a little relieved that his wife could touch the angel without negative consequences. It was another -admittedly, stupid- theory for the scrap heap then.

 

* * *

 

 

Sam was fairly certain that the sheriff wouldn't have put him and Gabriel into separate cells, if the archangel had managed to keep his mouth shut for the few minutes they had spent in the backseat of the police cruiser. The younger Winchester could admit that he would have laughed about Gabriel's stupid jokes about how handcuffs, combined with an actual police cruiser was like a kinky roleplayer's dream come true. If only it wasn't for Jody's rising annoyance, which couldn't bode well for them.

Sam sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall. He was fairly certain that it wasn't lawful to say that their one phone-call could wait until the next morning, but the younger Winchester knew better than to complain about that when any kind of in-depth investigation about him could possibly lead the cops to all kinds of nasty things.

"You and me in prison," Gabriel commented, suddenly standing right in front of Sam, "That's pretty kinky too."

The archangel grinned and straddled Sam's thighs, making himself at home in the taller man's lap. However, Gabriel settled for playing with the younger Winchester's hair, for the moment. The archangel could feel that Sam was tense and a little nervous, anything other than some rather innocent touching would have been asking too much.

"Gabriel, you can't just..." the younger Winchester protested weakly. Sam felt like he should give some token complaint, but he didn't really want Gabriel to leave again. A night in prison in the company of the archangel sounded much more appealing than spending the night on the tiny bunk all by himself.

"The cops around here don't bat an eye about dead people running around, I don't think they'll mind a little teleportation, munchkin," Gabriel quipped, gently kneading the younger Winchester's neck to get him to relax a little. The archangel realized his mistake the moment the nickname left his mouth and not only because Sam tensed again. The nickname Gabriel has used for Sam every now and then over their months of combined idiocy, left a bit of a sour taste in the archangel's mouth all of a sudden. Calling somebody you were sleeping with munchkin, as a reference to when they had actually been a little kid no less, seemed inappropriate.

"You need a different nickname," Gabriel decided with a smirk. It was time to make a cut and find a new nickname that was suitable for Sam's status as his boyfriend. Now was just as good a moment as any to start looking for one. They had time at their hands and only flimsy privacy, so all really adult activities were out of the question, anyway.

"Is no nickname an option?" Sam asked with a groan. The scandalized look Gabriel gave him was answer enough. Not that the younger Winchester had expected to get out of the cell without having a new nickname attached to him after the archangel's declaration. At least he could go for some damage control if they discussed it together. Hopefully. "Of course not."

"Gigantor," Gabriel whispered, nibbling on Sam's neck as if to test the nickname in a situation he would most likely use it again in the future. The younger Winchester bared his neck to the archangel's advances readily, but made a clearly displeased noise at hearing Gabriel's first suggestion. The archangel put 'Gigantor' on the maybe list, simply because he liked the sound of it. Using it often was out of the question when Sam really didn't like it though, so he had to keep trying.

"Sasquatch," Gabriel suggested next, planting little kisses up the younger Winchester's throat until he reached his mouth. The face Sam pulled was reason enough to disqualify the nickname completely. The archangel decided only to use it, if he ever felt the urge to tease or rile Sam up a bit.

"Muffin," Gabriel grinned, waggling his eyebrows. The way his whole face lit up as he leaned in to kiss the younger Winchester more deeply let Sam know that he wasn't going to get out of that one. The archangel swiped his tongue over the younger Winchester's lips one last time before he leaned back and decided, "I like that one. I think I'll stick to it."

Sam ducked his head as he chuckled. The younger Winchester did his best not to think of all the crap Dean would give him should he ever hear the archangel's new nickname for Sam, but other than that it seemed... acceptable.

"Don't be surprised if I call you cupcake then," the younger Winchester retorted, taking a firm grip of Gabriel's hips and holding him close as he initiated another kiss that left them both smiling and a little breathless.

"Cupcake, really?" the archangel asked, running his fingers through Sam's hair.

"Smaller muffin with colorful topping," the younger Winchester shrugged.

"I'll show you topping!" Gabriel announced seriously before he once more attacked Sam's neck and mouth.

Apparently, the cops around really didn't care much for unusual occurrences that day. None of them came to see what was up with their two prisoners, even when they were both laughing and generally having a much better time than could be expected from a night in prison.


	31. Chapter 31

**30**

 

"A-Adam... you need... more sleep," Tarot stated in a worried tone when the youngest Winchester entered the kitchen before even the first breaks of dawn. It looked like his friend made a habit out of not getting enough sleep and the seraph didn't like it one little bit. There was so much Adam had to shoulder day in day out, he shouldn't have to do it while he was also sleep deprived.

Karen smiled to herself and continued kneading the dough for her latest pie. She wouldn't pretend that she understood everything going on around her, but she could see that those two cared for each other a lot and that was good to know.

"Doesn't look like anybody around sleeps anymore," Adam shrugged, giving Karen an acknowledging nod. The youngest Winchester wasn't sure what to make of Mrs. Singer's sleeplessness, but he thought it wasn't too worrying for now. Baking pies didn't look like a viable first step in any evil scheme, unless it was something worthy of Snow White's evil stepmother.

To tell the truth, Adam couldn't have stayed in bed any longer. He had tried to make sense of everything going on, his thoughts circling around a theory he had dismissed before, but one that might be more rational than he had thought.

"Can I talk to you for a minute? Privately?" Adam asked, nodding toward the dark living room. The youngest Winchester had to speak to his angelic friend without anybody else around to hear them, especially Bobby and Karen. The talk would be hard -and most likely embarrassing- enough without one of them overhearing anything they weren't meant to know.

Tarot frowned slightly, but nodded. The angel put the knife he had used to slice apples aside and quickly cleaned his hands before following Adam into the living room. Maybe the human could go back to sleep once he had said what he needed. Maybe it would help him put his mind to rest.

"Okay, I really don't know how to put this gently, so I'll just have to be frank," Adam sighed deeply, after checking all doors were closed, "Do you have a crush on Karen?"

The youngest Winchester was pretty sure that Bobby wasn't jealous of the closeness between his wife and the angel, but that didn't mean Tarot's behavior wasn't due to feelings he had for Karen. Usually, Adam wouldn't have dreamed of sticking his nose into a potential love triangle -awkward much?- but if the youngest Winchester was right about his suspicion, he had the nagging feeling that his friend had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"I don't... don't know what you mean," Tarot replied in a clearly confused tone. Coming from anybody else, it would have sounded like the angel was going for denial, but Adam didn't doubt that the seraph simply didn't know the expression he had used. To be fair, having crushes wasn't really something that had come up in their conversations this far.

"Do you love her?" Adam clarified. Somebody else could have easily given one of those bullshit 'technically true' answers to that question, saying they didn't love somebody while still sleeping with them, but the youngest Winchester was pretty sure that Tarot wasn't built that way. Actually, Adam was sure that nothing was happening between Bobby's wife and the angel, even if the feelings were there.

"Yes," Tarot confirmed with a small smile, that vanished from his face the moment he saw Adam's face become very serious. The seraph was sure he had made a mistake, though he didn't know what he had done that the human didn't like. The only thing Tarot could come up with was that Adam thought that the angel preferred Karen over him, so he hurried to add, "Like I lo- love you."

"Uh... okay," Adam replied in a tone that was somewhere in the no man's land between awkward and relieved, "Just to be clear here. You mean like best friends, like family?"

The confused look on Tarot's face said all too clearly that the seraph didn't know what other kind of love he could possibly feel for them. Adam filed that piece of information away as something that needed to be addressed some other time, far, far in the future, if he got his way.

The youngest Winchester scratched the side of his neck as he tried to figure out how to proceed. Tarot knew more about what was going on than Adam did, that much was for sure. Hell, if the seraph didn't know what had changed in the time the three Winchesters had been hunting, who would? Adam simply wanted to hear his friend say whatever it was that bothered him out loud, so they could deal with it.

"Terry, something's going on here and I just... I don't get it. Something's bugging you, I can see that. Sometimes I've got to push you a bit to get to the core of things so I can understand, but I don't want to push you too far, you gotta know that," Adam finally said in a gentle tone, giving his friend an encouraging smile before he finished, "Just... just let me know if I should push here."

Tarot closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. His friend seemed intent on confusing him that day. Apparently it wasn't enough Tarot still didn't know why Adam had asked him all those questions, he had to bring the conversation to the one thing the seraph absolutely couldn't talk -or think- about.

"I can't... I can't talk about... this," Tarot answered in a nearly pleading tone.

"Okay, you don't want to..." Adam replied, trying to keep his tone neutral, even though he felt a little frustrated his best friend wouldn't talk. How the hell was he supposed to get to the bottom of the matter if nobody told him anything? It was a feeling that Adam usually associated with his brothers, not Tarot. However, the seraph surprised him when he interrupted him.

"No," Tarot objected in an uncharacteristically strong tone. Apparently, the human took the angel saying that he couldn't talk as he wouldn't. Adam had to understand this time so he would stop asking about it. "No, I c-can't."

The youngest Winchester's baffled expression changed to a pondering one the moment he realized Tarot was in fact trying to tell him something important. Adam was always careful to give Tarot space the moment he seemed to need it, so he had backed off when the seraph said that he couldn't speak.

"Wait... No... no... you're not saying that..." the youngest Winchester stated in a clearly upset tone when it dawned on him what Tarot was implying, "Bobby ordered you to...?"

Castiel had bound Tarot to Bobby, so the sandy-haired seraph couldn't go and do anything bad for the team as long as Bobby didn't allow it. Adam had never liked the concept, but he had to admit that the old hunter was very careful about the way he spoke to the angel so he wouldn't give him any orders accidentally. Apparently though, exactly that had happened just the other day and Adam was in no mood to give Bobby the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an accident.

"It's... it's okay," Tarot insisted, trying to help his friend calm down, "I just... just can't..."

"Say the things you wanna say?" Adam finished the angel's sentence in the snippy tone he usually reserved for arguments with Dean, "Yeah, that's all peachy."

The youngest Winchester saw all too clearly that he was upsetting the angel with his behavior, but he couldn't act like everything was okay when his best friend just calmly accepted that somebody else not only had the power to dictate what he could and couldn't say, but apparently also abused that power. Adam had to get out of the room and find a quiet place to calm down and think, before he said or did something he would regret.

"A-a-adam," Tarot weakly called after his friend's retreating form. The seraph felt numb as he turned around and walked back into the kitchen a few seemingly long moments later. There was an unfinished task he had left behind and it would be better to slice apples than get lost in his thoughts.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Karen asked in a concerned tone when Tarot skulked back into the kitchen. Putting a hand on the seraph's sagged shoulder, she made the best guess she had, "Did you and Adam fight?"

"I don't... don't know," Tarot replied in an anxious tone. The seraph didn't think that Adam was mad at him, but at the same time he had said or done something that angered his friend. Castiel said that he didn't understand Adam and that moment, neither did Tarot.

 

* * *

 

 

Sheriff Jody Mills walked into the police station with the intention of letting the troublemakers she had brought in the night before go, under the condition they got out of her hair as quickly as possible. Jody had told the deputies to leave the two men in the cells alone and that she would deal with them in the morning. Given the circumstances, it didn't seem smart to draw attention to the case and the sheriff had some hope that they would see reason and just leave. If they didn't, she'd have to resort to more drastic measures.

The visible smirk on her deputy's face when Jody walked toward the holding cells let the sheriff know that something must have happened while she was gone. Something not big enough to call her in, but big enough to make Deputy Hall look forward to her reaction to it. All in all, Jody said a quick good bye to the promise of an easy start that day.

"Morning sheriff!" Gabriel greeted Jody the moment she got close enough to establish eye-contact. Next to the archangel the younger Winchester began to stir and blink his eyes open. A prison bunk wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but Sam had slept on worse beds and having the archangel watch over him through the night made him feel safe enough for a deep, restful sleep. The younger Winchester couldn't be completely certain, but he suspected that Gabriel had also made the bunk a bit wider and -somehow- softer for them.

"Is it time for our phone call now?" the archangel asked with a mischievous smirk, before Sam even managed to get into a sitting position. After their experience the previous evening, the younger Winchester had little hope of keeping Gabriel from riling up the sheriff however much he wanted anyway.

"How... how did you...?" Jody blinked a couple of times, clearly baffled. She was absolutely certain that she had put the two into different cells and none of her deputies would change that just to mess with her. Granted, playing pranks wasn't something that was never done around the station, but this wasn't about putting salt instead of sugar into somebody's coffee.

"Funny how you don't even flinch over the living dead, but me changing cells baffles you," Gabriel retorted, earning him a stern look and a shove against the shoulder from his partner. Like the sheriff stood any chance to keep them locked up any longer than the archangel allowed her to! In fact, Gabriel could have made her forget everything about them and could have walked away with Sam any time, but the prison experience had been rather amusing and once he had gotten Sam on board with the idea, kinkier than the archangel hoped for at first.

"Gabriel, Dean wishes for me to tell you that he will do unspeakable things to your backside, if you do not allow Sam to answer his phone this instant," Castiel suddenly announced. The trench coat clad seraph appeared next to Jody out of the blue, causing the sheriff to draw her gun and point it at him on instinct.

Dean had fallen asleep -with his head quite endearingly on Castiel's shoulder- the previous night while the seraph continued to watch the old couple they had been observing. When the older Winchester woke up, he was pleased to hear that nothing of note had happened over the night, but not so pleased to notice that his younger brother didn't answer his phone. After trying for some time, Dean started to suspect that Gabriel was doing unmentionable things to Sam and thus, kept him from answering. Castiel decided to go check on their brothers after the older Winchester uttered his suspicion.

The blue-eyed seraph wasn't sure why Dean wasn't more worried even though he assumed that Gabriel was doing unthinkable things to Sam -going as far as to threaten to hurt Gabriel over it- but he was determined to prove that Sam was perfectly safe with Gabriel. Castiel assumed his brother and the younger Winchester had their phones in their pockets -like Castiel himself did- but were engaged in activities in which their clothes weren't on their bodies.

Apparently, the seraph had been wrong, but Dean's worries were unfounded anyway. Sam and Gabriel were safe and sound -with nothing unmentionable going on- even if an officer of the law was in the room with them with her gun at the ready.

"Jesus!" Jody exclaimed on impulse. Luckily, she had enough control over herself and her gun not to shoot just because something surprised her, but the sheriff had to admit that she came close this time.

"No, I am Castiel," Castiel replied stoically, looking toward his older brother. Gabriel had yet to acknowledge the information he had been given and Castiel just wanted Sam to call Dean as quickly as possible so the oldest Winchester could stop worrying.

"Sheriff, I'll be pretty mad at you, if you try to shoot my brother," Gabriel quipped, standing up and walking toward the cell door. The archangel considered simply opening the damn thing, but that might be a little too much for the woman with the gun to handle that moment. He could still do so a minute later. There was however something that needed to be said right away, if Castiel's look was any indication. "And you'd better give my partner his phone back, if you don't want Dean's shoe up your a-"

"Look, Sheriff Mills, all this is a big misunderstanding, anyway. We were only..." Sam interrupted his partner, putting his palm over Gabriel's mouth for good measure. Not that the younger Winchester could really keep the archangel from saying or doing whatever the hell he wanted, but Gabriel usually considered his wishes.

"Spare your breath, Muffin," Gabriel piped in before Sam was done speaking. The archangel wasn't going to say a thing about Sheriff Mills' ass if it made the younger Winchester uncomfortable, but Sam had just given him a good keyword for something he needed to point out. "One of the people on our list shares her last name. She won't listen until it's too late."

Both Sam and Castiel looked at Gabriel astonished for a moment. If somebody in the sheriff's family had come back from the dead recently, it sure explained a lot. The younger Winchester had wondered before why Jody didn't react at all when Gabriel started talking about dead people walking around, something that usually would have gotten them a drug or alcohol test, but not if the sheriff already knew about these things.

"Look, I promise we're not out to hurt anybody," Sam stated in a gentle tone once he had gotten over the first surprise, "We're just trying to keep an eye on the situation."

At that point all they were doing was trying to make sense of everything. There were no plans to kill any of the affected people if they didn't behave the way undead people usually did. This far, all they had was a single murder and that person had been killed with a gun in an act of revenge, which wasn't what zombies usually did.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Jody asked, clearly unsettled. To her credit, the sheriff lowered her gun.

Gabriel grinned and finally pushed the cell door open like it had never been locked in the first place. The archangel made a show of searching his pockets for a small white business card with golden letters that said 'Gabriel, Archangel' and his current phone number.

"No booty calls please, the Sasquatch gets jealous," Gabriel winked at Jody before he wrapped his arm around Sam's waist demonstratively.

Dean finally got a phone call from his younger brother less than five minutes later.


	32. Chapter 32

**31**

 

As it turned out, Jody Mills could be a very reasonable woman. As soon as the wings came out, she hurried to officially release Sam and Gabriel. The archangel wasn't completely sure how serious he could take the sheriff's promise to call them should something unusual happen, especially in connection with the walking dead citizens. The fact that someone in Jody's family -her little son, as she reluctantly admitted- was one of the resurrected made it highly questionable if she was really interested in seeing them dealt with so long as there was any sort of doubt that something truly evil was going on.

Then again, they didn't even know for sure if something evil was going on. It was likely, but not a proven fact. They had watched and waited for days and none of the people on their watch list had done anything out of the ordinary. Hell, as it turned out, the guy who had been killed by Clay Thompson had been Mr. Thompson's killer first. Gabriel knew that the hunters on the team had a bit of a problem with that, but the former trickster thought it was appropriate.

All in all, there was nothing that had to immediately be done about the situation, so the archangel decided he could take the chance to speak to Castiel. There weren't many places in Bobby's house where two people could have a guaranteed private conversation, so the two angels ended standing on the rooftop.

"Since the zombie Apocalypse is pretty lame right now, I thought we should take a minute to discuss the next part of the plan," Gabriel stated, taking a pause for dramatic effect before he clarified what they were meant to talk about, "A lovely little stroll through Eden."

Looking at what the archangel had to go through to get the Philosopher's Stone, getting a fruit from the tree of life should be a walk in the park by comparison. At least this time around Gabriel knew the turf they had to get onto. He hadn't been anywhere close to Eden in a while. The closest the archangel had come was his little raid of the armory, but that was a completely different part of heaven. However, the Garden was still a familiar place.

"You cannot simply walk into the Garden. Joshua will not allow it," Castiel replied seriously. The seraph had a good view of nearly the entire salvage yard from their position on the roof, which might have been convenient if they had expected an attack. Castiel would have chosen a different location for a strategic talk, but he hadn't questioned Gabriel's decision to have a conversation up there all the same.

"I know, I know, but last time I checked fruit from the tree of life weren't on sale via amazon," the archangel quipped. He knew that his reference had gone straight over Castiel's head even before his brother spoke again.

"Why would you look for the fruit in the rainforest?" the blue-eyed seraph asked in a confused tone. The tree of life had been created by their Father personally, there wouldn't be a second one anywhere. Of course Gabriel should know that better than most.

"Promise me one thing, Cassy," the archangel tried not to chuckle, but he was fighting a losing battle, "One day soon, you just grab Dean and make him give you a crash course of pop culture outside of Batman."

Actually, Castiel needed more like a lesson in human life and customs, but one thing might come with the other. Dean might even enjoy introducing the seraph to all his favorite movies and shows. The older Winchester sure liked explaining Batman to his angelic buddy.

"I would like that," Castiel answered with a small smile. The seraph had no plans to leave Earth again anytime soon. Knowing more of the things Dean and Gabriel liked to reference a lot would clearly be helpful to the often confused angel. Not to mention that the older Winchester seemed to enjoy sharing his knowledge on certain things.

"Then go for it, Castiel," Gabriel encouraged, smiling at his brother, "Life's too short to waste time."

The archangel couldn't help remembering that he wasted a lot of time thinking that Sam didn't really love him when a simple talk could have cleared the misunderstanding up from the start. It was time they weren't going to get back. As Tarot liked to say, time only moved into one direction, at least as long as things went naturally. Apparently enough of his thoughts showed on the archangel's face that even his little brother caught on.

"What are you not telling me, brother?" Castiel asked, concern lacing his voice. The blue-eyed seraph often felt like Gabriel was keeping information from him -the archangel even admitted he did it at one point- and maybe it was time to start questioning it.

"If you want a detailed list to answer that, we'll still be here next year," Gabriel answered with a forced grin, shrugging casually. Technically, there were a billion things the archangel never told his brother -or anybody for that matter- he was very old and had never shied away from trying out all sorts of things after all, but he knew very well that wasn't what Castiel wanted to know.

"Gabriel, you are my brother and I trust you..." the blue-eyed seraph began before he was interrupted. Castiel didn't expect Gabriel to make this easy for him, but the more the archangel tried to evade the topic the stronger the younger angel's feeling became that there was something Gabriel wasn't telling him, even though he needed to know.

"Then you know everything you've got to know for now," the archangel stated dismissively, willing a lollipop to appear in his hand. Gabriel often had the strong urge to gesture around wildly, having something in his hands usually helped him to keep that from happening. It wasn't the time or the place for Castiel to know of the full extent of Gabriel's plan. The archangel had every intention to share his plan at full length with his brother, but not before they had all the ingredients they needed for the spell in their possession.

"However," Castiel went on talking, putting emphasis on the word to let his older brother know that he was determined to be heard, "I do not appreciate being part of a plan you will not lay out before me in its entirety."

Gabriel exhaled soundly, staring into the distance for a few moments before he could make up his mind. The archangel could have taken Castiel out of the equation. There was always Balthazar. Gabriel got the feeling that Balthazar was less likely to ask for explanations and especially not persist when he was told he wouldn't get them. However, Gabriel trusted Castiel more than Balthazar and he was sure he could trust that Castiel would see why certain sacrifices were necessary.

"Understand this, Cassy, you mustn't speak to anybody about what I'm going to tell you, even if you decide you want out," Gabriel stated in a grave tone, fixing his brother's eyes with his own to emphasize how serious he was about this, "There's one thing missing from the list of ingredients I gave them."

Truth be told, the archangel had only given the hunters the list of ingredients in the first place to keep them off his back. They couldn't work the spell by themselves, so it didn't make much of a difference, but Gabriel assumed they were less likely to ask many questions, if they thought they had all the information already. His plan had worked this far.

"You are not 'playing it straight' with Sam and Dean," Castiel frowned deeply, unease apparent in his voice. The seraph knew that Dean would be disappointed if he found out, not to mention Sam who was in a romantic relationship with Gabriel and clearly wouldn't take any kind of deception lightly. The angel was sure that his older brother knew these things, but still decided to keep his secrets. It wasn't for Castiel to judge Gabriel's motives, not when he himself didn't know the full story, but the seraph knew that they had the potential for great conflict on their hands.

"They'd flip if they knew and that won't help anybody," the archangel huffed out a humorless chuckle, before he closed his eyes for a moment and spoke on, "Look, I know what I'm asking of you is... unpleasant, but it's the only way."

Castiel studied his brother's face for a few seconds before he replied, "You have yet to tell me what it is you are asking."

If Gabriel was right and whatever it was he was hiding had to be done, Castiel would do what was needed. The Apocalypse needed to be stopped. Chances that it would be an enjoyable experience for everyone had been nonexistent from the start. The blue-eyed seraph maintained that the archangel had to come clean, if he wanted Castiel's support.

Gabriel nodded seriously, "Right."

 

* * *

 

 

"It's been five days," Dean groaned, cutting into one of the pies Karen baked the previous night, "Five days and nothing!"

The older Winchester might have felt a little unsafe eating something Bobby's zombie wife -not that he'd ever call her that when Bobby was listening- prepared, but knowing that Tarot had been involved in the baking too made Dean feel better about it. He was pretty sure that trying to murder one of them or keeping silent while somebody else tried to poison them would go against some rule Bobby had given the angel. Besides, it was cherry pie and Dean was willing to take risks for a homemade cherry pie.

The older Winchester looked up from his sweet treat to see Sam shaking his head with a chuckle. That alone was unusual enough, but Dean had to say that it wasn't the only strange reaction Sam had given him lately, by far. Something about his younger brother's behavior had changed since he made his love for the archangel known and this might just be the opening to talk about it that Dean had waited for. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just..." Sam answered before he took a break to consider what he wanted to say to keep chances of Dean getting upset over it minimal, "You're acting like that's a bad thing. Hell, we're all acting like it's a bad thing."

Karen was a nice woman who worked hard to make Bobby happy, succeeding whenever Bobby managed to put his guilt over her death aside for a moment. It was easy to see that the old hunter still loved her and Karen hadn't given them any reason to doubt that her love for him was anything other than sincere. It was also fascinating -and somewhat heartwarming- to watch how much Karen doted on Tarot, the one of the younger men around who let her act all motherly with him. At the same time it seemed like Adam was a little jealous, at least their youngest brother sure looked like he was mighty peeved over something. Sam hadn't had a chance to talk to him about it yet.

"That's because it is," Dean replied without missing a beat, "The other shoe has to drop eventually and you know it Sammy."

The older Winchester realized that his brother knew the truth of his words from experience as much as Dean did, but educating Sam on the error of his logic wasn't what Dean was after here. The older Winchester was much more interested in the reaction his brother was going to give him than simply repeating one of the truths of life to him.

"You're right," Sam admitted with a sad smile, "It just would be nice to have a different outlook on life."

The older Winchester didn't show it, but his brother had just given him the opening he needed to address the issue that clearly was there.

"Yeah, about that," Dean cleared his throat noisily, "I couldn't help noticing that you're... a lot less bitchy lately."

At first the older Winchester thought his brother's better mood was due to finally getting laid -though, he really didn't want to think about that- but then he realized that Sam had gotten laid every now and then before too and it never affected his frame of mind that much. In a way it seemed like his younger brother was suddenly an optimist -or trying to be, anyway- and that was a pretty dramatic change from self-loathing.

"Any reason why you make _that_ sound like a bad thing?" Sam snorted, shaking his head again. The younger Winchester considered protesting against the use of the word 'bitchy' in reference to him, but ignored it instead. Something told him that Dean had other things to say that would need objecting against much more.

"Give me some credit, I'm trying to be... supportive here," the older Winchester groaned again, rubbing his jaw as he considered his next words. As little as Dean liked it, he had to admit that after... Ruby, Gabriel was a gigantic step up for Sam. At least, the archangel tried to keep Sam safe and had gotten him demon blood free instead of getting him to jug the stuff.

"Dean," Sam pulled a face his brother would undoubtedly dub a bitch face. The younger Winchester didn't want to discuss his relationship with Dean, especially not when Dean was so obviously looking for a way to sugar coat his disapproval. Besides, the most likely outcome of that was his older brother giving up on finding a nice way to say it and just cut right to his dislike of Gabriel.

"Hey, you said I jump at your throat too quickly sometimes and I admit you were right. Don't be a shithead and do the same to me now," Dean stated, raising his arms defensively.

"Okay, you're right, I'm sorry. What were you going to say?" Sam admitted with an apologetic shrug. He had to give his older brother the benefit of the doubt here. They were still talking civilly without any curses or accusations being thrown around. There was hope for this talk yet.

"So, you and Gabriel," Dean started awkwardly, gesturing around helplessly for a few moments before he could speak on, "Are you serious about that? 'Cause last time I checked you were into nice, homey blondes with boobs, not douchey dicks with... dicks."

Honestly, the fact that Sam was suddenly homosexual -or more likely bi-sexual- was another thing that caught Dean completely by surprise. All in all there was just too much about his brother's newfound love for the trickster -which was what Gabriel would always be to Dean- to keep quiet about it.

"I don't even know where to start..." Sam inhaled deeply to try and stall a little bit. The younger Winchester was sure of what he felt, but it wasn't so easy to put it into words, especially words Dean would be open to hear. "Look, it's not about... Honestly, I never even knew that I didn't care about stuff like that, but... I don't. Guess I'm just into people who know pretty damn well that I'm messed up, but still love me."

Dean wanted to say that Sam wasn't messed up and he should have higher standards than that, but the older Winchester had to admit that they all had issues -big issues. Wanting somebody who saw the problems for what they were and still loved Sam was admittedly a pretty good standard to have. What Dean said instead was something that didn't make him want to rip his tongue out. "God, that's so girly."

"I think it's about time I ask Gabriel to send me that picture he took of you when your hair was that lovely shade of pink," Sam deadpanned, grinning at Dean's obvious discomfort when the topic was brought up. The younger Winchester had gone easy on his older brother by letting him believe that the pink hair incident was forgotten, but Dean's comment had given Sam the opportunity to bring it up again that was just too perfect to let pass.

"You wouldn't dare!" Dean exclaimed just a little too scandalized to be taken completely seriously.

"Just watch me," Sam laughed, getting his phone out and trying to type a text message asking the archangel to send him the picture immediately. His older brother immediately tried to take his phone away from him though, making it hard to hit the right buttons.

Sam couldn't remember the last time he and Dean had wrestled each other, just play fighting over a stupid little thing like this. Even though it was obvious that the older Winchester was determined to win, it was also obvious that he was enjoying the moment.

In the end, their struggle was over when Sam's cell phone went off, announcing a call. Dean groaned in faked annoyance and sat back on his haunches, showing his hands. The older Winchester would of course let his brother answer the phone. In their line of work you never knew when a call was urgent, after all.

Sam's expression turned serious even before he answered the call. "Sheriff Mills?"


	33. Chapter 33

**32**

 

"Bobby, his wife tried to eat him!" Dean stated in a heated tone when the older hunter kept refusing to open his eyes to what was happening. Sheriff Mills called Sam to let him know that Ezra Jones, the first to come back from the dead, had killed her husband. Apparently, the poor man managed to get to the phone and call the police before she finished him. Luckily enough -despite her previous refusal to acknowledge how serious the situation was- Jody arrived prepared and provided them with the information that a headshot worked as well as it did on regular zombies.

"You better get out there and handle the situation then," Bobby replied in a gruffer tone than usual, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The old hunter knew very well what the boys wanted to tell him. Under different circumstances Bobby would be one of the first to say that it was time to discuss how they were going to get rid of the monsters, but that included talking about how to get rid of Karen, as things were. There was no way in hell Bobby would talk about the best way to kill his wife!

"Bobby," Sam sighed. The younger Winchester tried to put himself in Bobby's place and imagine what it would be like to have to come to terms with the idea of having to let a loved one go for the second time. They all knew that no matter when the moment came it would be hard, but Sam realized neither he nor Dean had thought that Bobby would be unreasonable about it.

"This is my wife we're talking about. You don't get a say," the old hunter declared, his tone clearly implying he was just a second away from reaching for his shotgun, "It's also my house and I want you out of it. Now."

Both Winchesters looked at Bobby baffled. Neither one of them had ever seen Bobby lose it like that. It was obvious that the old hunter was anything, but sane that moment and it scared them. Dean was about to give Bobby a piece of his mind, tell the older hunter how stupid he was acting, but Sam grabbed his brother's shoulder and dragged him toward the exit instead.

"Dean, maybe we should just..." the younger Winchester started to explain, before an evil glare from his older brother stopped him silent. Sam groaned and reworded what he wanted to say, "I mean Karen was one of the last to come back. Let's just do as he says for now and get in contact with Cas and Gabe."

Sam wasn't comfortable with the thought of leaving Bobby to it any more than Dean was, but it wouldn't help them any to start a war over it with their mentor. Shooting a couple loved ones of people all over the town that had turned into zombies was one thing, killing Bobby's wife was another. They had to go in with a plan and be prepared for Bobby to fight them tooth and nail. There was no doubt that they'd both take Bobby's -eternal- wrath over seeing him dead, if it came that far.

Both Winchesters were startled when their youngest brother suddenly appeared in the doorway. Sam mentally kicked himself for -once again- forgetting that Adam was even there. They really had to get used to including him into the planning process.

"So, anybody want to tell me what's going on?" Adam asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he raised an eyebrow at his abashed brothers. He didn't give them the chance to reply before he added, "Of course not."

The youngest Winchester was seriously growing tired of always being left in the dark, especially since he had the strong feeling that it -once again- was about something he was a part of and therefore, had every right to know. Sam at least had the good graces to look a little embarrassed.

"The zombies are starting to behave like zombies," Dean informed Adam as matter-of-factly, before he spoke on in a more heated tone, "And Bobby's a delusional, stubborn son of a bitch."

Adam frowned deeply and nodded. He didn't need to hear any more details to know what this essentially was about. Technically, Karen was the one who was in trouble, but she was pulling them all in with her, not that it was the poor woman's fault. She hadn't asked for it any more than Adam had; only Adam was lucky enough to be brought back as a normal human being. The youngest Winchester had to admit that the greater part of his sympathies wasn't for Karen or Bobby though. Adam hadn't made much of a connection with Karen and -to be brutally honest- he was still mad at Bobby, but Tarot hung his heart on Karen. The seraph would be devastated to lose her.

"You'd better come with us," Sam suggested a moment later. They were going to hunt zombies, so anywhere in their close vicinity clearly wasn't going to be a safe place to be in the near future, but their usual safe haven was worse as things were. Meeting up with Jody would put them right in the center of another family drama, but it was inevitable. If they were lucky Sheriff Mills would know a safe place for Adam at least.

"No," the youngest Winchester replied strongly, taking a step away from his brothers. Adam wanted to know what was going on, but he didn't want to run. He couldn't run away from it, not while his best friend was confined to the house and couldn't run.

"Adam, right now Bobby's not..." Sam tried to reason with his younger brother. Leaving Adam in Bobby's care when it was highly questionable if Bobby could even take care of himself felt all kinds of wrong; not that the younger Winchester could say that. If he voiced any thought suggesting that Adam needed somebody to look after him, his younger brother's determination would only grow.

"I know, that's why I can't go," Adam explained seriously, "If Bobby's not able to do what has to be done, somebody else has to and it can't be Terry."

The youngest Winchester sincerely hoped that his angelic friend had enough instinctual self-preservation to defend himself, if he was attacked. However, Adam realized that it was just as likely that Tarot wouldn't lift a finger to defend himself. Not to mention the other reason why the seraph might just stand there and allow all kinds of horrible things to happen to him or worse.

"Look, your loyalty to your friend is very noble and everything..." Dean groaned, trying to keep as much annoyance out of his voice as he could. The seraph couldn't be killed by a zombie as far as they knew, Adam could. Hell, they had lost their little brother to undead creatures before. Staying behind and exposing himself to the risk because of a damaged, cowardly angel, was all sorts of reckless and stupid.

"You don't get it, Dean," Adam interrupted, before his oldest brother managed to say something that made him lose his temper and any kind of rational discussion impossible, "Bobby can just tell him not to lift a finger against Karen and no matter what he'll have to do it. If Bobby's as far gone as you think he is, do you really think he'll hesitate to do exactly that?"

The youngest Winchester didn't know for sure if a zombie could kill an angel with power-levels as low as Tarot's, but he was pretty sure that his friend was in for a world of hurt at the very least, if zombie Karen got her fingers on him and he couldn't defend himself. However, that wasn't even what this was all about.

Granted, Adam was mad at Bobby, but that didn't mean he wanted the old man to die. If Bobby refused all help until it was too late and Tarot couldn't intervene, then somebody at least had to keep Karen from hurting anybody else. In the end, it all boiled down to the fact that somebody would have to stop her and if it wouldn't be Bobby, somebody else had to take his place.

"Maybe one of us should..." Sam suggested, clearing his throat awkwardly. His little brother had a point and it was obvious that Adam wasn't going to go anywhere unless they found a solution for the problem. Maybe Bobby wouldn't react too badly, if just Sam stayed behind. The younger Winchester at least knew when it was better to keep his mouth shut and just observe.

"I can handle myself, Sam," Adam insisted heatedly, before he forced himself to let out a deep breath and speak on in a calmer tone, "Look, you want to protect me and I'm grateful for that, I really am, but I can handle myself."

Sam and Dean looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment. They didn't have enough time for a lengthy discussion and Adam was unwilling to go for the quick solutions they had to offer. Both brothers were unwilling to let their youngest brother have his way though. They knew Adam wasn't the kind of guy who would admit when he was in over his head. He fit perfectly into the family like that, but he might very well be making a fatal mistake.

"They went for my mom first," Adam stated quietly before either of his brothers could say a word. He could see that they were close to just dragging him out of the house kicking and screaming, unless he could convince them that he could in fact, handle the situation. "I heard her beg and scream. I saw her die. If you think I'm ever going to stand by and watch a monster get to someone I care about again..."

Adam didn't have to finish his statement for his brothers to understand how serious he was. There was silence between them for a few long moments, before Dean removed his gun from the waistband of his jeans and handed it to his youngest brother.

"Aim for the head," the oldest Winchester advised.

Adam nodded gravely and put the gun behind his back. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it, but he wasn't going to hesitate to if it became necessary.

 

* * *

 

 

Sheriff Jody Mills stood on the front lawn of her house, keeping a tight grip on her gun despite her shaking fingers. She had hurried to get back to her family the moment she realized that what the angels had warned her about a couple of days ago was happening. Even though Jody realized that Ezra Jones had never been homicidal in life, she tried to hold on to hope that her little boy would never become one of those... things, on the way back home.

The sheriff arrived just in time to have all her hopes shattered by the picture of her son feeding on the bloody remains of his father. Jody never got further than taking aim at the monster that looked like her son. Even if that thing clearly wasn't her boy, she couldn't bring herself to shoot it. Instead she backed out of the house and stood on the lawn with her gun ready. She couldn't let it escape, that much was for sure. If it tried to leave the house, she would have to...

Jody was only glad that she had given Sam Winchester a call while she had still been in the car driving to her house. She wasn't sure she'd have the nerve to do it at that moment.

"Sheriff Mills," Sam said, cautiously approaching the woman. He and Dean had split up once again after regrouping with the angels in the car. Dean and Castiel were going to Ezra Jones' house to see for themselves what happened and then check on the first few people on the list, while Sam and Gabriel were supposed to check in with the sheriff and then go find the last few people from the list.

"That's not my little boy anymore," Jody mumbled, her voice shaking. The sheriff realized that she should have been better prepared for everything, the warning signs had been there, then again was there any way to be prepared for getting your son back only to lose him and his father a few days later? Jody hadn't gotten into her position by being overly emotional and easy to shake, but that moment she felt on the brink of hysteria and for once she thought it was a justified reaction to everything too.

"No, it's not," Sam agreed, offering what little comfort he could. They weren't going to send the kid back to his grave, letting the mother believe that it was anything other than the truth that putting her son back to rest was only the merciful thing left to do. It was easy to see that Sheriff Mills didn't fully believe it herself, but with time she might be able to make herself believe and accept. Jody was a strong woman, she would find a way to deal with everything.

"Give me a minute, I'll..." Gabriel let his voice trail off, nodding toward the house. The archangel wasn't looking forward to killing a child, even if it was a zombie, but he knew it wouldn't haunt him as much as it might Sam. Not to mention that most monsters didn't pose a threat to life and limb when it came to Gabriel, but they could harm the younger Winchester. Sometimes a moment of hesitation was all it took. Why take the risk when it was avoidable?

"Gabriel," Sam said quietly, squeezing the archangel's hand for a moment. The younger Winchester suspected that Gabriel had a soft spot for children -and not only shrunken down Winchesters- so this might hit him much harder than most things they had gone through. Sam knew that the archangel had a much bigger heart than he let on most of the time and didn't shrug off things as easily as he wanted others to believe.

"It's okay," Gabriel smiled reassuringly, before he let go of Sam's hand and touched Jody's shoulder instead, "I'll take him home."

The archangel figured there was nothing better he had to offer the mother of the kid he was about to kill. The only good news was that the souls of the resurrected people were apparently never completely taken out of heaven and so they couldn’t settle into their bodies. While that was what caused them to turn into zombies, it also meant that they were still heaven-bound no matter what their bodies had done.

"What about the others?" Jody asked nearly tonelessly, her eyes still fixed on the house. The sheriff winced when the windows suddenly lit up with a bright glow she could only assume was angelic in nature. Everything was just as quiet as before. What had started as a miracle five days ago ended in tragedy twisted in its own miracle. It was strangely fitting, but left Jody feeling numb.

"Don't worry," Sam replied, giving his voice all the confidence he could muster up, "My brother and Castiel are out there too."

Jody took a deep breath, trying to get her shaking under control. She'd take care of the aftermath of everything tomorrow, but was relieved to know that there was somebody with their head in the game to take care of the here and now.


	34. Chapter 34

**33**

 

Sam pulled the trigger, putting a bullet between the zombie's eyes before the monster could attack him. Between the younger Winchester and Gabriel they had managed to get rid of half the zombies on the list quickly and efficiently. As far as Sam could tell nobody else had been seriously harmed, leaving Ezra Jones' and Jody Mills' husbands as the only additional casualties. As hard as it might sound, everyone else who died that night had already been dead.

The younger Winchester pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to call his older brother. Sam could only hope that things had gone comparably well on Dean and Castiel's end. Every life lost that night was tragic, but looking at the bigger picture the city had gotten away with a metaphorical black eye.

"Dean?" Sam asked the moment his brother picked up the phone, "Yeah, we just got the last one."

Gabriel waited patiently as Dean gave his younger brother a quick status update. From what the archangel could hear, the older Winchester and Castiel had neutralized the other half of the undead, leaving them with only one zombie unaccounted for. Gabriel had a fairly high opinion of Bobby Singer, but he really wasn't sure if they could trust the man to deal with the situation. Then again, the archangel would have never thought that he could ever kill Sam, but faced with Lucifer in Sam's body he still somehow managed to do what was necessary.

"We're pretty close to the police station, just pick us up there," the younger Winchester told his older brother, surprising Gabriel. A moment later Sam put his cell phone away and reached for the archangel's hand instead.

"So, we're not getting back to home base ASAP?" Gabriel asked, though his question sounded more like a mere statement. To tell the truth, the archangel assumed that Sam would want to get back to Bobby's as quickly as possible. Gabriel was sure that losing their old mentor was an unbearable thought for both Winchesters, so he was curious to hear the logic behind Sam's decision.

"Adam is keeping an eye on the situation and..." Sam answered, sighing heavily as he stopped speaking. The younger Winchester's hold on the archangel's hand tightened without conscious decision. Sam wasn't sure if he could explain himself in a way that Gabriel would understand where he was coming from.

"And?" the archangel prompted in an encouraging tone. Gabriel didn't believe for a second that Adam's claim he could handle the situation with Karen put Sam's mind at ease enough that he didn't feel getting back to Bobby's was a priority. If anything, knowing that his younger brother was sticking his neck out should strengthen Sam's wish to return as quickly as possible.

"It's just," the younger Winchester sighed again, closing his eyes for a few long moments before he forced himself to look at Gabriel and continue, "If it was about Jess..."

Sam knew it might be completely wrong to project his own -hypothetical- feelings on Bobby, but the way the older hunter had thrown them out of the house earlier spoke for itself. Bobby wanted to deal with it on his own and they had to trust that he would do the right thing.

"I wouldn't want anybody else to... deal with it," Sam finished with a small, forced smile. The younger Winchester tried his best not to think of all the ways this could go wrong. At least Adam had the means to protect himself and his angelic buddy, if the old hunter couldn't bring himself to kill Karen again.

Gabriel nodded silently as they walked to the police station. The archangel could agree that for the sake of closure, it would be best if Bobby took care of the issue with his wife himself. It seemed like a cruel joke to speak of 'closure' when talking about a loved one coming back from the dead just to be forced to kill them a few days later though. Even the former trickster god had to admit something like that was going too far.

"You miss her," Gabriel said instead of voicing any of his other, darker thoughts. The topic of Sam's former girlfriend hadn't come up this far, but now that the younger Winchester had started it, the archangel thought it was safe to fish for a little information.

"I loved her Gabe, of course I miss her," Sam admitted awkwardly, taking a deep breath before he added, "Life goes on, but things like that don't just go away."

Sometimes the younger Winchester even found some solace in the fact he still missed Jessica. Anything else would have felt like he was betraying her or trading her for something else. It wouldn't have felt fair. It still didn’t feel fair in fact, being she died by association with him. Jess deserved better.

"If you could get her back...?" Gabriel started before he was promptly interrupted. A part of the archangel was glad that Sam didn't let him finish. Gabriel would have been far too tempted to move heaven and hell to get Jessica back to the land of the living, if the younger Winchester voiced the desire to have her back. In all honesty, the archangel wasn't sure why he asked in the first place. It wasn't like he wanted to let Sam go. Hell, it wasn't like he'd even be able to easily. Gabriel decided to blame his slightly guilty conscience in regards to all the things he was keeping from Sam and knowing what might come of his stupidity.

"No, Gabriel, no," Sam stated more fiercely than he meant to, "Don't say things like that."

The younger Winchester would be lying if he said he never thought of somehow getting Jessica back, especially in the early days after her death. It had been the considerations and dreams of a grief-stricken young man who didn't know better. Sam liked to think that he knew better now though. Life and death weren't things you played around with, as the still ongoing events had shown all too clearly. Nothing good could come from it.

"Look, I... Honestly, I don't know..." Sam tried to explain, before he had to stop himself and get a semblance of order into his clashing thoughts, "We had plans for the future back then, but... my plans have changed so much. My whole outlook on life is different..."

Even if there was a way to resurrect somebody with a one hundred percent guarantee of no bad side effects, it wouldn't be fair to drag Jessica back into a completely changed world and to a completely changed man. Sam only recently stopped thinking that all the changes he had gone through were bad, but the point that he wasn't the guy Jess had loved anymore still stood.

"Besides, I wouldn't trade what we have for anything," the younger Winchester added on a more upbeat note, squeezing the archangel's hand before leaning in to give him a quick peck to the lips.

"You only say that because I'm a good lay," Gabriel joked, squeezing Sam's hand back. The archangel could admit -if only to himself- that he felt more insecure than he was comfortable with, for a moment there. Gabriel knew this was by no means a competition, but he hadn't been as sure where he stood in Sam's affections when the topic of Jessica came up.

"Idiot," Sam retorted, shaking his head. He couldn't keep the small grin off his face though. It probably was a cliché, but what the younger Winchester loved most about the archangel was that he always had a way to make him smile or laugh. He needed that in his life.

"You love me," Gabriel smirked, bringing his hand to the back of Sam's neck to pull him down to his eye-level.

"You know I do," Sam replied honestly, leaning in to seal their lips together.

The moment between them was over when the Impala came to a halt in front of them, headlights creating a spot light on the couple.

"You guys are just impossible," Dean groaned, rolling his eyes at his brother and his stupid archangel. Sitting next to Dean, the corner's of Castiel's mouth were twitching traitorously.

 

* * *

 

 

Adam couldn't say that he was proud of himself for the thought, but the moment Karen collapsed in the kitchen he hoped that she simply dropped dead and that would be the end of it. An anticlimactic end to the story would have been best for all of them. It wasn't like there was any chance they were going to get out of this unscarred.

It took Bobby a few minutes to get Karen transferred to and settled in the living room. Adam thought of offering his help, but the old hunter glared at him before he even opened his mouth. He decided to keep silent. There was no use making the situation any tenser than it already was. They all knew what they were in for when Karen regained consciousness, even if it went unspoken.

Adam busied himself with getting Tarot to stop shaking before helping the seraph get back to his feet. The angel had knelt on the floor to check on Karen when she passed out and then backed himself into a corner when Bobby took over. The youngest Winchester wasn't going to lie to his friend by saying everything would be okay, when he knew with every fiber of his being that it wouldn't be, but he could offer comfort with a hug. All too soon Adam had to let go and get to the living room to keep an eye on Bobby, but he felt very uncomfortable leaving the seraph behind like that. To his great surprise, Tarot got to his feet and followed him. Sometimes it was easy to forget that the angel was much stronger than he seemed at the first glance.

"Bobby, I... I saw the man... the one Gabriel asked me about," Karen stated in barely more than a whisper, just as Adam and Tarot entered the room. Time was running out fast, but there were a few things she had to say before she could rest again.

"Shh," Bobby replied in a soothing tone, gently brushing a few strands of stray hair out of his wife's face, "We can talk about this later."

"There won't be a later," Karen sighed, lifting her hand to caress her husband's cheek. Bobby had to accept that their time together was drawing to a close. Karen would have given anything to spare her husband the grief, but there was nothing she had to give and nobody she could give it to. All she could do was to deliver the message she had been given right after she was brought back and say her goodbyes.

"Don't say that," Bobby pleaded, putting his hand over his wife's. The old hunter knew that Karen was only telling the truth, but that didn't make it any easier to hear.

"He spoke to me," Karen said, ignoring her husband's plea, "He said it was nothing personal from his side, that Lucifer sent him to do it, because... because it would hit close to home, for all of you. Make you think twice about... the consequences of resistance."

It gave Karen some satisfaction to know that whatever exactly her husband was involved in these days was a thorn in the devil's side. Clearly Bobby was on the right path and it made her nothing but proud, even if it brought them all into the impossible situation they were in.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Bobby asked with a pained expression. Rationally he knew that hearing the message earlier wouldn't have helped them any. It seemed like a logical question to ask though. His wife must have had a reason to keep silent for this long.

"I couldn't," Karen answered, giving her husband a small smile, "I just wanted to... make you happy, see you smile."

Bobby tried his best to smile back, but when he couldn't bring himself to do it, he took Karen's hand between both of his and kissed the tips of her fingers. Karen smiled again, turning her head to look past Bobby and at the two young men standing close to the door. This time she wasn't only going to leave her husband behind, but also the angel she had formed a bond with over the days. The fact that Adam had a steadying hand on Tarot's shoulder made her feel a little better about it though. Clearly the youngest of the three Winchester brothers cared a lot for the seraph and he'd help him get through all this, just like his two brothers obviously cared about Bobby. Everyone she loved was in good hands and wasn't that the most important thing in the end?

"I can feel it happening," Karen stated, her tone growing more urgent as she spoke on, "Don't let me turn, Bobby, please don't let me turn."

Bobby shook his head, trying to deny this was happening. The old hunter's eyes fell on Adam and Tarot for a moment. He liked both of them, so God help him he did, but that moment Bobby simply wanted them gone.

"Get out!" Bobby yelled, before his voice cracked, "If you can't... Get out."

Tarot closed his eyes, clearly looking pained and anxious as he obeyed and left the room. The seraph didn't want to go, but he had been ordered to. It wasn't his choice to make anymore and he had to accept it. Adam tried his best to repress the flash of anger at witnessing his friend being forced to do something he clearly didn't want to. However, this was neither the time nor the place to deal with those issues.

"Karen, I can't," Bobby insisted, his eyes wandering to the gun on the table the same moment Karen's did. The old hunter barely noticed that Adam hadn't followed his command. When Bobby told the two younger men to leave he thought he needed them gone, but it really only served as a short-lived distraction from the topic at hand.

"You have to," Karen replied, looking at her husband with pleading eyes.

"No," Bobby pressed through gritted teeth. It was clear the whole situation was painful to the old hunter. For a moment Adam wondered, if he would have to use the gun Dean gave him. The youngest Winchester was adamant to only use it as a last resort though. Bobby wasn't going to take this well either way, but standing by while somebody else shot his wife might just be the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Bobby, I'm glad you did it the first time, I'm glad it was you and not someone else after I'd already killed you," Karen spoke in a surprisingly firm tone, grabbing her husband's hand and squeezing gently, "Please, I'm not getting out of this alive either way. Don't let me go with regrets."

Adam watched as Bobby reached for the gun, only turning his face away a moment before the gunshot fell. The youngest Winchester took a few shuddering breaths before he approached the old hunter and pried the gun from his hands. Adam didn't think that Bobby was too tempted to go and find himself another weapon to end his life with, but having one in his hands already might give him stupid ideas.

Less than a minute later, the telltale sound of the Impala in the driveway brought Adam out of his stupor. His brothers were better suited to care for Bobby than he was. Adam found that his legs felt wobbly as he made his way to the study. He couldn't be sure, but he doubted Tarot would have gone back to the kitchen.

As it turned out, Adam was right. The seraph was cowering in the corner behind Bobby's desk, his palms pressed firmly against his ears and his forehead resting on his knees.

"It's over now," Adam managed to say, surprising himself with how hoarse his voice sounded. Tarot didn't show any signs that he heard him or even acknowledge that Adam was there, which was a new experience for the youngest Winchester. At least the seraph didn't flinch when Adam carefully took hold of Tarot's wrists and pried his palms away from his ears.

It took a few more moments for the angel to look up enough for Adam to see that tears running over his cheeks. The youngest Winchester got Tarot to uncurl enough so Adam could hug him tight and Tarot could bury his face in the human's shirt. They sat like that for quite some time before it hit Adam that he had just seen the angel cry, before he'd ever heard him laugh.


	35. Chapter 35

**34**

 

Adam took a deep breath before he entered Bobby's living room. The old hunter had finally passed out, the multiple, nearly sleepless nights and the whiskey he had turned to after they burned Karen's body had taken their toll on him. However, everybody else was assembled in the living room and the youngest Winchester had something he needed to discuss with them. Actually, he had something he wanted to tell them, but he was sure it would turn into a discussion.

"I know this is a bad moment, but..." Adam shrugged apologetically as he addressed his two brothers and their angels, "I want out."

That moment the youngest Winchester was glad that he had left Tarot behind to tinker with one of his clocks -though he's had trouble concentrating since Karen's death- instead of bringing him to the talk. The seraph wouldn't have appreciated standing next to Adam while four pairs of eyes stared at him like he had gone crazy.

"What?" Dean asked, shaking his head as he misunderstood what his youngest brother said. Adam often had bad timing when it came to voicing his requests, but this clearly took the cake. They only just burned the bodies of the zombies the night before -including Bobby's wife- and Adam decided it was the right moment to say that he couldn't wait to get away from them.

"I want out of here," Adam repeated, steeling himself for the argument he was sure would follow. The youngest Winchester was sure neither his brothers nor the angels could bring up any reasons for sticking around that Adam hadn't gone through in his mind already. He still was determined to leave though, even more so since he'd seen Tarot stare at the kitchen counter blankly, like he couldn't comprehend that nobody was there baking pies.

Castiel frowned deeply, but chose to stay quiet. It wasn't the angel's battle to fight, unless something the brothers said or did forced him to intervene. Apparently Gabriel felt the same. The archangel never stopped eating M&Ms he snapped into existence earlier, but his focus was more on the possible scenarios of where this talk between the Winchester brothers could go. Very few of the options he came up with were good, so Gabriel decided to do whatever he could to give things a push into the right direction. However the time for intervening hadn't come yet.

"We're working on that," Sam replied, trying to pacify both his brothers. They really didn't need a yelling match around the house right now. "I mean as soon as the Apocalypse..."

"No, not whenever all that is dealt with," Adam interrupted his older brother in a tone that usually wouldn't allow for objections. The youngest Winchester didn't believe for a second that his brothers would let him get away that easily though. "As soon as I can get my and Terry's stuff together."

To tell the truth, the main reason why Adam wanted to get out of the house was that it would be better for Tarot, but the youngest Winchester decided to make it all about himself instead. Adam had every intention of having a serious talk with Bobby over the orders the old hunter had given the seraph in the past days, but Bobby was in a bad enough condition as things were. Maybe the logical conclusion should have been to wait a while and have the discussion when the right time came, but Bobby wasn't the only one who was suffering. Adam could see that being reminded of Karen at every turn was very painful for his angelic friend. It wasn't only about getting Tarot away from Bobby to prevent the old hunter from ever abusing the power he had over the angel again, it was about getting the seraph out of a house that held too many hurtful memories.

"Thanks for the heads up then," Dean snapped, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "Nice of you to give us so much time in advance to -oh, I don't know- spank the stupidity out of your whiney ass."

Heaven and hell were still after all of them. It didn't look like finding Adam was high up on the list of priorities for the angels at the moment, but they surely wouldn't hesitate to grab him if presented with a chance to do so. Dean was tempted to say that he would be okay with Adam putting his ass on the line, if that was what he wanted, but he was endangering the whole damn world along with him. The oldest Winchester had to admit that he wouldn't let Adam go, even if the whole vessel situation wasn't hanging over their heads. The kid needed protection, dammit!

"You know Dean, I'd really like to give you a piece of advice my oldest brother gave me," Adam retorted in an icy voice, "Nobody cares what you've got to say."

If anybody had kept track of the times the oldest and the youngest Winchester came close to a fistfight, they could have added another point to their list. Castiel once more had a tight grip on Dean's shoulder to prevent the situation from escalating, just as Sam had an arm outstretched toward his younger brother in case he wanted to get any closer.

"Guys, you've got the Norse god of chaos -among other things- standing here, but this is too much even for me," Gabriel intervened before the two brothers could get even deeper into their argument and further away from the topic at hand. The archangel didn't necessarily think that Adam's request was unreasonable and had to be shot down, but they had to get to the bottom of where it came from first.

"Look, I already told you that the hunting life isn't for me. I've got to get some distance from it sometime and the longer I wait, the less likely I am to get out completely," Adam explained with a deep sigh, still staring daggers at Dean. The youngest Winchester realized that he didn't make a strong case for why Tarot had to leave with him, but he didn't think that any of the others would question it. They all knew that Adam and Tarot had a strong bond between them, so they shouldn't have troubles wrapping their head around the idea that if Adam left, Tarot did too.

"Don't try to bullshit me, kiddo," Gabriel stated with a humorless chuckle, "I've been bullshitting people since before bullshitting was even invented."

The youngest Winchester's anger admittedly did a pretty good job covering up the ulterior motives he had for his request, but the archangel had dealt with far better liars than Adam Milligan before. There was something the young man didn't want them to know and whatever it was, was probably exactly what they had to know.

"Okay, listen," Adam groaned, clearly reluctant to spill the beans. Sam couldn't help feeling very apprehensive of his younger brother's unwillingness to say what the real reason for his sudden wish to get away. Adam usually wasn't shy about letting them know when something was bothering him, if he didn't want to share, it had to be bad. "Bobby's given Terry a couple of orders lately."

Gabriel did everything he could not to show the flash of anger that hit him after hearing Adam's honest explanation. The archangel knew from the start that binding Tarot to Bobby was very risky business, but Gabriel -like everybody else- reasoned that Bobby was unlikely to exploit the power he was given. The archangel realized that there were extenuating circumstances to be considered in this case, but that didn't keep him from getting mad over his brother's abuse.

Sam's hand on Gabriel's shoulder came as a surprise to the archangel. For a moment Gabriel couldn't help wondering if he had accidentally shared some of his feelings over their connection. He assumed that Sam would have pushed some of his own back at him if that was the case though. It was far more likely that the younger Winchester figured that Gabriel had to be troubled by the information, since it was easy to see that it bothered Sam.

"Seriously? That's what this is all about?" Dean groaned. It was obvious from the older Winchester's tone that he didn't see what the big deal was. After all, Castiel had bound Tarot to Bobby exactly for that purpose. Granted, the way Adam said it made it sound like Bobby hadn't only given the angel orders, but unnecessary or uncomfortable orders. The oldest Winchester still didn't see why his youngest brother was making a song and dance about it.

"Right, it's not a big deal at all, just somebody completely overriding somebody else's free will," Adam stated acidly, "Not like that's ever been a big deal to any of us."

Dean was trying to come up with a fitting reply to his youngest brother's words when he noticed that next to him Castiel was even tenser than usual. Of course, the blue-eyed seraph was the one who had given Bobby power over his brother. Dean was itching to tell his friend that clearly Adam was just overreacting and that it wasn't Cas' fault, but his younger brother spoke before the oldest Winchester could open his mouth. It was probably better that way. Dean could still talk to Cas later, just between the two of them.

"Adam, you realize that the situation was..." Sam tried to make a case for Bobby's behavior. The younger Winchester wasn't going to deny that the old hunter had made a mistake if he abused his power over the sandy-haired angel, but Adam had to see that the situation Bobby had been in at the time was extremely difficult. Sam thought it might even be possible that the old hunter had issued the orders more or less accidentally, simply not thinking about what he was saying as much as he usually did. The younger Winchester realized that they had a conflict they needed to solve on their hands, but maybe they could agree that they were past the point where Bobby was likely to make the same mistake again all too soon. Maybe they could agree that they had some time before Adam and his angelic friend had to move out.

"Yes. Okay? Yes, I get it," Adam interrupted his older brother once again. It wasn't that he couldn't understand why it happened, but understanding didn't excuse it. Adam took a deep breath before looked directly into Sam's eyes. His older brother was the person he thought was most likely to try and really understand where he was coming from, especially if he tried to keep his tone level. "That doesn't make it any better and -more importantly- it doesn't make it any less likely to happen again. How's Terry ever going to be free like this?"

Dean had to admit that his youngest brother had a point, but that didn't mean the oldest Winchester would just let Adam and his angel walk out the door. Apparently Castiel saw the truth in the youngest Winchester's words as well and it just added to the guilt he already felt. Dean only hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on Cas' shoulder.

"Besides, I was never going to stick around for longer than absolutely necessary," Adam added a moment later. In all honesty, the youngest Winchester could have lived with having to wait on picking up his life again until after the Apocalypse was dealt with, but he didn't feel comfortable making all this completely about Tarot. Especially since he hadn't spoken to the angel about his plan to get them out of the house yet.

It was obvious that Dean had something to say to his youngest brother's last comment, but the archangel sincerely doubted whatever it was would contribute to finding a good and peaceful solution.

"Time-out for all Winchesters," Gabriel raised his arms, letting some of his angelic authority bleed into his voice to make sure he had everyone's attention, "A bit of distance sounds like a pretty damn good idea and I know just the right place for you and little bro."

The archangel assumed that most of Dean's resistance against the idea of letting Adam go stemmed from the oldest Winchester's wish to protect his youngest brother. Gabriel just hoped that Dean had enough trust in him to be appeased by the archangel's offer.

"You'll just have to learn to live with a new roommate," the archangel added after a moment of consideration. It was probably a good idea to let Adam know that he and Tarot wouldn't be alone at their new location. Not that Gabriel planned on telling the current single resident of one of his favorite hideouts that he was getting roommates in advance.

"Another hunter?" Adam asked, trying to be open-minded about the possibility. It wasn't like hunters were bad people -at least the ones he had met this far definitely weren't- but the danger that a new hunter wouldn't take Adam -or Tarot for that matter- any more serious than his brothers and Bobby did was all too real. Then again, the youngest Winchester was sure that he could make any hunter Gabriel might put them with, understand that he couldn't simply push them around. Realistically, the chances for yelling matches more frequent than those between him and Dean already were, were slim.

"Far from it," Gabriel couldn't help the smirk that spread over his face thinking of the person he intended to team Adam and Tarot up with, "The man's never even seen a monster up close."

 

* * *

 

 

"You ready to go?" Adam asked, giving his friend an encouraging smile. It hadn't taken them long to put what little personal items they had into the bags Gabriel provided them with after Adam explained to his friend that they were leaving and where they were going. The archangel already transported Tarot's clocks and clock parts to the new house, so basically only their clothes and a couple of books were left to pack up.

"I... I think so," Tarot replied, trying to return the smile, though it turned out more nervous than anything else.

"You want this, right?" Adam asked in a gentle tone. It was true that he hadn't asked Tarot what he thought about the matter before knowing for sure that there was an alternative place they could stay. Adam told himself that there was no use getting the angel worried about possibilities they might not even have, but he also had to admit he didn't like to think of the possibility that Tarot could have turned him down. "Terry, you don't have to do this for me."

"I want to... to be where you are," Tarot stated as decisively as he would ever sound. Truth be told, the seraph didn't have the same desire to get out of Bobby's house as his human friend, but when faced with the decision who to stay with, it wasn't hard to figure out what he wanted. Tarot loved Bobby, he did, but being close to Adam was more important to him. Besides, nobody said that they would be gone forever. They probably wouldn't come back to live with Bobby, but that didn't mean they would never see him again.

Adam watched his friend closely as they went down the stairs and to the living room. It was obvious there was a lot on Tarot's mind, but the human trusted his angelic friend would tell him when he was ready to share.

It was surprising that Bobby was awake and among the assembled people in the living room to see them off. However, Adam wasn't completely sure if it was a good or bad surprise. From the looks of it, the old hunter knew -or at the very least suspected- why his two guests were leaving. Adam might have still been sore about the entire issue, but it was hard to see the hunter looking even guiltier than he already had anyway. At the same time, the point about Tarot never being free as long as he stayed where Bobby could order him around still stood.

What Adam didn't know, was that Gabriel had to wake Bobby up so the old hunter could officially let go of Tarot. The sandy-haired seraph couldn't have gone anywhere without Bobby's approval. Since the connection between the hunter and the angel was one that only benefitted one side, it could be broken from only one side. Gabriel couldn't help wondering, if Tarot had even noticed the bond was broken yet.

"We can... we can visit, right?" the sandy-haired seraph suddenly asked, only just loud enough for everyone to hear before carefully grabbing Adam's forearm.

The youngest Winchester forced a smile as he nodded. Tarot's question was a nice sign that the seraph wasn't mad at Bobby and the old hunter seemed to understand that. At the same time the angel's inability to see anything wrong with the way he had been treated was another big reason why Adam wanted him out of the life he had known.


	36. Chapter 36

**35**

 

At the first glance, the house Gabriel transported Adam and Tarot into was exactly what one would expect of the archangel. It seemed to be spacious and furnished in a way that looked a little tacky, but expensive. However, the papers and alcohol bottles -in various stages of emptiness- stashed on every available surface didn't exactly scream Gabriel. Granted, if there had been more candy wrappers and soda bottles strewn about, Adam wouldn't have doubted that this was a place the archangel lived in every now and then.

Adam was just about to pull the curtains aside to get a better look at the neighborhood and the -rather dim- inside of the house, when Gabriel shook his head and brought his index finger to his lips, indicating that Adam should be quiet. The youngest Winchester raised an eyebrow at the archangel, but complied.

Gabriel grinned to himself as he approached the couch. It was the prophet's own fault that he got pranked, if he always fell asleep in the middle of the day like that.

It was Adam's turn to shake his head, as the archangel conjured up a can of whipped cream to play a very immature prank on the sleeping man. The youngest Winchester was tempted to cough or otherwise warn the guy, but then saw Tarot's puzzled expression. The seraph obviously didn't know where this was going. Adam had little hope that his friend would find the prank very amusing, but it would be a good lesson in slapstick regardless.

After the archangel was done coating Chuck's palm in whipped cream, he exchanged the can for a long feather and started to tickle the prophet's nose. Chuck scrunched up his nose and turned his face aside. Gabriel shook his head, still smirking and got ready to tickle the prophet's nose again, when Chuck -faster than most would think he was capable of- smacked his palm against the archangel's face, covering it in whipped cream.

"Chuckles, I had no idea you had it in you," Gabriel stated, a little baffled. The whipped cream prank wasn't one of the most refined gags admittedly, but it hardly ever failed. However, the archangel could appreciate a good joke, even if it was at his expense. At least it got Adam to chuckle, even the corners of Tarot's mouth twitched.

"I saw it coming," Chuck shrugged a little awkwardly as he sat up. The prophet had to admit that his latest vision confused him a little. He had seen himself in his dreams before -every time his path crossed with the Winchesters to be exact- but it was the first time Chuck saw something he was rather certain wasn't meant to go into one of his books.

"Leave us all hanging on the Apocalypse, but ruin my pranks, you've really got your priorities straight, dad!" Gabriel commented, looking toward the heavens, even though he knew that God wasn't there. In a way, the archangel was happy that his father was still sending messages to someone, even if those messages interfered with Gabriel's plans. It was a sign that God was still out there. Besides, God interfering with something minor like this, but not sending out any signs or messages that would foil Gabriel's plans to stop the Apocalypse was a sort of message to the archangel too. Gabriel had delivered his father's messages long enough to know how to read the old man.

The archangel snapped his fingers making all traces of the whipped cream disappear. Gabriel loved whipped cream -in fact, he made a mental note to combine two of his most favorite things next time he got Sam alone and naked- but having a serious conversation with the stuff dripping from your chin was damn near impossible.

"I see you've settled in nicely," Gabriel commented, looking around the room demonstratively. There wasn't as much of a difference between the state of Chuck's old living room and this new one as there had been a couple of months ago.

"Uh... I was going to... but..." the prophet mumbled, scratching the side of his head in embarrassment. In his defense, it was pretty damn hard to find the energy to clean when a new vision might floor him any time. The Winchesters had sure been busy lately!

"No need to explain it to me," Gabriel laughed, before looking toward the two men he had brought with him earlier, "But your two roomies might insist on a cleaning rota."

Judging by the disgusted face Adam pulled earlier -apparently not only moodiness and yelling, but bitch-faces were also part of the Winchester DNA- and knowing how assertive the youngest Winchester brother could be, Chuck was in for the spring-cleaning of his life. It was questionable if the prophet would adapt to a new lifestyle easily or willingly, but there was no doubt that Adam would try to establish cleanliness and order in the household. Gabriel wasn't sure if he should pity Adam or Chuck more, so he settled for pitying Tarot who'd be stuck in the middle.

"My two...?" Chuck asked, frowning. The prophet felt like he missed a part of the story, which was an unusual occurrence for him. Apparently God thought that both Chuck and Gabriel needed a surprise that day.

"Adam, Tarot meet Chuck," Gabriel introduced, "Chuck, you already know those two."

The prophet finally acknowledged the other two men in his living room, waving at them sheepishly. Chuck indeed had seen them both before and knew much more about them than their names.

"Perks of being a prophet, I presume," Adam huffed. He wasn't going to admit it, but knowing that somebody had seen even parts of his life was freaky. Depending on what Chuck had seen exactly, it was pretty damn embarrassing too.

"There... uh.... there are free rooms upstairs... I only use the bedroom on the left," Chuck stated, pointing toward the staircase for good measure. Gabriel simply nodded. The archangel would leave Adam and Tarot to find their things already waiting for them in two of the bedrooms.

"Awesome," Adam replied with a curt nod, "C'mon Terry, let's see what the other rooms are like."

The youngest Winchester only hoped that Chuck never used the spare bedrooms. If he did, chances were they'd have to clean them before they could use them. Judged by what little Adam had seen of Chuck -and going by what Gabriel told him- the prophet was a nice enough guy, but he sure as hell needed a few cleaning lessons, especially if they were going to live in the same house for any length of time. That thought made Adam chuckle humorlessly. If only his mother could see him now. It wasn't that long ago she used to complain about him leaving his stuff lying around. Tarot gave his friend a quizzical look as they started to walk up the stairs. Apparently, Adam wasn't ready to tell him what made him chuckle though. Instead he wrapped an arm around the seraph's shoulder and squeezed slightly.

"You'll get used to them. Tarot's quiet," Gabriel shrugged, letting his voice get louder toward the end of his statement, "and Adam's very polite... on occasion."

Right on cue Adam called back down the stairs, "It was nice to meet you, Chuck!"

The archangel chuckled and shook his head fondly. It took a few moments before Gabriel realized that Chuck looked anxious, like he was waiting for something. Apparently, what he was waiting for was the sound of a door closing behind Adam and Tarot.

"Gabriel, I... I have a couple questions about..." Chuck sputtered, looking around nervously. The prophet already knew he was walking on thin ice. If his new guests heard any of what he wanted to say and drew conclusions from it the archangel didn't want them to draw, Chuck would be in deep shit.

"Don't ask," Gabriel replied in a hard tone, fixing the prophet's blue eyes with his own golden ones. The archangel couldn't blame Chuck for questioning the things he was seeing, especially now that he had a more personal connection to everything than before he knew the characters from his books were real people. Gabriel didn't intend to let the prophet know any more than he already did, though.

"Uh... I... I probably don't want to know... before I know, I mean, but..." Chuck stammered, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt,but failing miserably. The prophet had the strong feeling that they needed to talk about this. He knew the archangel's intentions were good, but what Chuck knew of his methods hadn't sounded too promising.

"I know what I'm doing, that's all you have to know... before you know, I mean," Gabriel stated in a tone that didn't allow for any objections, "And don't you forget, not a word to anybody, especially now."

The archangel knew he was tempting fate by putting a lot of trust in Chuck's ability to keep his mouth shut, when he decided to relocate Adam and Tarot to his place. However, there was no safer place for them.

"Yes, I got that... but... from what I've seen already, Sam and Dean will kill me, if I don't..." Chuck objected weakly. Truth be told, the prophet wasn't sure if he was more intimidated by the archangel or the Winchesters. Both parties had the potential to be very scary, especially if their anger was directed at him.

"Chuckles, let me put it like this," Gabriel replied in a clearly fake, sweet tone, "The one protecting you from all greater harm that might come to you is me. Now, let's say you did something to make me very angry. I'm not sure how willing I'd be to save you from my wrath."

"Gotcha," Chuck swallowed heavily. That moment the prophet had no doubts that he'd take the Winchester's wrath over Gabriel's.

 

* * *

 

 

Bobby seemed determined to act like nothing happened, except for more than doubling his whiskey intake. Neither Sam nor Dean stood on any moral ground to tell him to stop. Drinking copious amounts of alcohol -as Castiel called it- was part of the Winchester way of dealing with bad situations. Both brothers agreed that they couldn't leave Bobby alone as long as he didn't get more of a grip on himself. Knowing the old hunter, he'd find a way to turn his heartbreak into another reason for fighting all the sons of bitches out there, but until he did, it couldn't hurt to keep an eye on him.

The brothers were sitting on Bobby's couch, watching a re-run of Baywatch, giving the old hunter some space without leaving him to his own devices. If they were lucky, Bobby would eventually join them, though probably not for a Baywatch re-run.

"Did you know Gabriel relocated Chuck?" Dean finally asked in a forced casual tone, watching his brother's reaction closely. The older Winchester could read his younger brother like an open book, so the bitch better not even try to lie to him. If he was honest, Dean didn't know what answer would be a good one in his case. Sam not knowing meant that Gabriel was keeping things from both of them and Sam knowing meant that Sam was keeping things from Dean.

"No, why would I?" the younger Winchester replied, frowning. Sam wasn't sure why Dean thought it was a big deal anyway. So, Gabriel had relocated Chuck. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with that. In fact, it probably was better for them all if the angels couldn't get to the guy who was writing about their lives.

"Doesn't it bother you at all that he's keeping things from us?" Dean groaned. The older Winchester could admit that Chuck's whereabouts weren't exactly vital for them to know. It was much more a matter of principle. Once Gabriel started to do things behind their backs, there was no way to tell where things would be going. Dean had learned that the hard way when Sam started to sneak around behind his back with Ruby. At least this time, Sam wasn't involved in whatever it was.

"Dean, he probably just didn't think to mention it. It's not like Gabriel lied to us," Sam insisted, "I mean, we haven't even talked about Chuck lately."

The younger Winchester was sure that Gabriel would have told them about Chuck's new address, if they had mentioned paying the prophet a visit or something alike. With the end of the world at the forefront of everyone’s focus it was understandable for the archangel to simply have forgotten to mention it. The archangel never gave them any reason to doubt he was completely on their side. If anything Gabriel did much more for them -all of them- than was or could be expected. Sam was about to voice some of his thoughts on the topic when his older brother raised his hands in defeat.

"I hope you're right, Sammy," Dean stated in a reconciliatory tone. It wasn't surprising that his younger brother was willing to vouch for Gabriel. Actually, it was just one more reason why Dean would have to keep a close eye on everything, making as sure as he could that the archangel wasn't playing them all for suckers.

Sam shook his head and sighed deeply. The younger Winchester didn't get the chance to tell Dean that he wasn't the only one who could read his brother like an open book before the doorbell rang.

"Sheriff Mills?" the younger Winchester asked, clearly surprised to see who was paying them a visit. It didn't look like Jody had come to arrest anybody. The sheriff wore jeans and a flannel shirt instead of her usual uniform and she looked nervous. The look on her face reminded Sam a lot of Bobby's. A deep seated pain that was simmering just under the surface, barely concealed by the resolution to somehow go on.

"Just Jody... I'm not here as..." Jody let her voice trail off, before she took a deep breath and raised her eyes to look Sam in the eyes, "I just... I need someone to talk to."

 

* * *

 

 

Adam's new bed was bigger and more comfortable than the one he had at Bobby's house. He didn't want to know and wouldn't ever ask how Gabriel knew what kind of mattress Adam preferred, but he made a mental note to give the archangel a heartfelt thank you the next time he saw him. The youngest Winchester hadn't known how much he missed having his own room -one he set up himself, with his own things- but of course you never knew what you were missing until it was gone.

All in all, it simply didn't make sense why Adam kept tossing and turning. There was no reason why he couldn't seem to get rest. Adam knew that his brothers were as safe as they ever were. Nothing about their lives would change because he was gone. If anything, his absence would make things easier for them. Tarot's clocks -the ones he already repaired and the ones that still waited for repair- were in the seraph's room, giving the angel something to do. There was no chance Tarot would get bored over night while Adam slept. Besides, the angel never slept and Adam did for up to eight hours a day, so it wasn't like the human's absence would be new for the seraph. Everything else around was new though.

The youngest Winchester threw the blanket off his body with a groan. He wasn't going to get any sleep like this, no matter how comfortable the bed was!

Adam grabbed his blanket and a pillow and crossed the hallway to get to Tarot's room. The youngest Winchester knocked once, but didn't wait for an answer before he opened the door. It wasn't as if Tarot was likely to be doing anything inappropriate. In fact, Adam could picture his friend just sitting there -probably on the floor- tinkering with one of his clocks. The bad thing about the picture on Adam's mind was that the angel looked a little lost and wasn't concentrated on his clocks like he usually was.

"Hey, can I... sleep here?" Adam asked quietly, giving his friend a small smile.

Tarot blinked a couple of times, like he couldn't quite believe he heard right. Like Adam expected, the angel was sitting on the floor, clock parts spread out on the floor around him. Unfortunately, the parts the youngest Winchester feared were exactly like he pictured them too.

"Of... of course," Tarot answered, returning his friend's smile, even if it looked strained.

"Good," Adam stated, closing the door behind him. The youngest Winchester realized earlier that Tarot's room had all the same furniture his own had, including a bed the seraph was unlikely to ever use. However, Adam chose to put his pillow and blanket on the couch. Apparently, sleeping in another guy's bed was where he drew the line.

"First nights in new homes are scary," Adam mumbled, as he got settled on the couch.

Tarot looked at his friend, clearly surprised, before he nodded more vigorously than he meant to. First nights in new homes were scary indeed, but nothing was unbearably frightening when Adam was there.


	37. Chapter 37

**36**

 

After having Sam and Dean around constantly for over a week, Bobby found them a case outside of South Dakota. The old hunter loved the two boys like his own, but there was no use denying that they could be immensely annoying once they got into the mother hen mindset. Not to mention that a certain archangel never stayed away for long. While Bobby was glad that Sam had found happiness, it was still hard to see them interact -even if they toned the PDA down for the old hunter's sake- on a nearly daily basis.

It wasn't long before the Winchesters packed their bags and hit the road. Finding them a hunt was Bobby's nice way of telling them to get lost already and they both understood the message. Truth be told, the old hunter was far away from being okay, but he was dealing. At least Jody Mills and Bobby made a connection over the loss of their loved ones in a similar fashion, so the sheriff would look after the old hunter a little while they were gone.

"So, I'm going to interview the babysitter and you go for the delivery dude," Dean stated once the brothers finished setting their things up in the motel room. The monster they were hunting was out for blood and there were bite marks, so everything was pointing to vampires. According to the reports Bobby provided, there were two people the police had questioned as possible eye-witnesses. It suited Dean well that one of them was a cute blonde in her mid-twenties.

"Any reason why you're going for the hot chick?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. The younger Winchester wasn't serious about his complaint, but Dean might as well know that his brother saw straight through him. If the older Winchester planned to collect the babysitter's phone number and possibly go out with her, he should just come out and say it. That way, Sam would also know that he could tell Gabriel they'd have the motel room for themselves that night.

"Sammy, you're in a relationship with an archangel," Dean replied seriously, putting a hand on his younger brother's shoulder before he added, "He might smite someone if he gets jealous."

In all honesty, Gabriel didn't strike Dean as the overly jealous type, but better safe than sorry. Not to mention that Sam was in a relationship, thus he got laid regularly without having to go through the process of picking someone up. Not that Dean wanted to think of Sam getting it on with Gabriel, ever.

"You know, Dean, Gabe's my _boy_ friend," Sam pointed out in a lecturing tone, noticing how his older brother shuddered involuntarily at his words, "He'd probably be more worried about me talking to another guy."

Actually, the younger Winchester had a hard time believing that Gabriel would have much of a problem with him talking to anybody. Sam knew that the archangel wasn't quite so self-assured as he always tried to come across, but Gabriel never struck the younger Winchester as the jealous type. At least not when it was only about talking. Sam had no idea what might happen, if the archangel saw him kissing somebody else or something alike. Since the younger Winchester had no interest kissing anybody other than Gabriel anyway, he could live with not knowing.

"Oh please, we all know you're only gay for Gabriel," Dean snorted. The older Winchester could have accepted Sam being gay in general, equally the same as he could accept that his younger brother was only gay for one person. The point was that from all Dean had ever seen, Sam wasn't interested in any men other than the archangel. The older Winchester rolled his eyes when his brother kept quiet after his statement. "What? You can't even start to tell me how wrong I am?"

"No... that was actually... insightful," Sam answered, over exaggerating his astonishment just to see his older brother's bitch face. Even if the younger Winchester would never tell Dean, the older Winchester's 'I am not amused with what you just said' expression was no less of a bitch face than Sam's own. Of course, informing Dean of that fact would also force Sam to admit that 'bitch face' was, at least sometimes, the fitting term to use.

"For that alone you're definitely going after the delivery guy," Dean huffed, punching his younger brother's upper arm for his stupid joke, "Bitch."

"Jerk."

 

* * *

 

 

"Welcome to my humble abode," Balthazar greeted his two brothers, raising the wine glass he held toward them. The seraph had to admit that he could imagine nicer things than meeting with Gabriel and Castiel, if only because they were there to talk business. Balthazar would have welcomed them with open arms and a bag full of chips for the surrounding casinos, had they been there for a night out between brothers.

"You show a great misunderstanding of the word humble," Castiel stated seriously, looking around the penthouse suite Balthazar inhabited. The panorama windows gave them a great look over Las Vegas, which seemed like a strange place to Castiel, even if Dean spoke of it fondly every now and then. The seraph assumed that he couldn't judge the city correctly yet, because the older Winchester had spoken of the great nightlife. Their visit during the day made it look like a strange compilation of big buildings in differently styles, usually found in completely different countries.

"Figure of speech, Cassy," Balthazar shrugged, putting his wine glass down with a deep sigh. Castiel probably didn't even know what he was missing out on with his limited understanding of the human way of life. Granted, Balthazar was mostly interested in the upscale way of living and hanging out with hunters, especially the Winchesters, wouldn't teach anyone a lot about these things.

"I like your style," Gabriel commented with a grin. In all honesty, it wasn't that long ago that the archangel would have felt right at home in a place like this. Most of his hideouts were luxurious, at least by middle class standards. The problem was that Gabriel couldn't see Sam in a place like this. Not when it came to living there for any lasting time. Not when it came to building a future together. Gabriel could see the two of them in an apartment like the one they had when the Winchesters were children or in a suburban home with a white picket fence. The archangel shook his head slightly to get those thoughts out of his head. They had other matters to discuss, even if they were still in the small talk phase.

"You don't get to say anything against it anyway," Balthazar huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "It's your plans that might get us killed any day now, so technically it's your fault that I have to live life at its fullest as long as I can."

The blonde seraph enjoyed being on Earth enough, so being cut off from heaven hardly bothered him. It helped that Gabriel had given him a little power boost when they last met, but even without that Balthazar would have preferred Earth to heaven anyway. The seraph couldn't say that heaven had ever been a place that offered as much freedom as living among humans did, but things had been better in the past. A past so long gone that even an angel had troubles remembering it. Balthazar had little hope that things back home would get better once the Apocalypse was over, but what little hope he had was worth fighting for. If they succeeded there was at least a chance that living in heaven would be desirable again.

It wasn't lost on the blonde seraph that Castiel became tenser than usual the moment after Balthazar had brought up the possibility of Gabriel's plan getting them killed. Mentioning a possibility they all knew was in the cards shouldn't have caused any kind of reaction in Castiel. Balthazar knew his dark-haired brother well enough to be sure there was something more behind this. Call him paranoid, but the blonde seraph was certain that Castiel knew something he didn't. Balthazar filed that piece of information away for future use. This was neither the time nor place to get Castiel to talk.

"Smooth, Balthazar, real smooth," Gabriel snorted, shaking his head, "It says sad things about the state of heaven when more of our brothers and sisters could do with some of your attitude."

Balthazar at least knew what he wanted and was willing to reach for it. The blonde seraph complained a lot, but he was still with them. He hadn't tried to run and hide, sitting out the Apocalypse. Besides, Gabriel and Castiel were willing to die for the success of the mission at this point, so having somebody around who was unwilling to die -at least senselessly- could only do them good. Balthazar would be the one to tell them if their plans were becoming too risky. Not that Gabriel planned to let his brother know any of that. If the blonde seraph's head got any more inflated, he'd have troubles passing through doors.

"It does say great things about my fabulousness though," Balthazar retorted with a smirk. Nobody could say that the seraph wasn't self-assured. Balthazar could admit that he had his weaknesses, but he'd always insist that they were by far outweighed by his strengths.

"It was my understanding we were here to discuss how to acquire a fruit of the tree of life," Castiel stated, a little unnerved by his brothers' inane banter. They had a task at hand, a task the fate of the world might very well depend on. Castiel was not happy with the fact they had been unable to come up with a realistic way to get their hands on a fruit from the tree of life yet. The blue-eyed seraph discussed the issue with Gabriel before, but any of them going back into heaven brought the immense risk of being captured with it. The archangel was the most powerful of them, but he was also the one all of heaven's soldiers would be on the lookout for. Castiel or Balthazar might stand a greater chance of being undetected for a short period of time, but they were less likely to escape once they were spotted. Not to mention that they didn't only have to get into heaven, they had to find a way into Eden.

"Hear that, Balthy? Castiel does not approve of our slacking off," Gabriel commented with a smirk, trying and failing to keep his tone completely serious. It wasn't lost on the archangel that they had a big problem to solve, but chances were a couple of minutes -or hours even- of small talk wouldn't make their situation any worse.

"How would we ever get anything done without you?" Balthazar asked, standing up from the couch and putting his hands on Castiel's shoulders.

"I presume you would 'sit with your thumbs up your asses' until 'shit hit the fan'," Castiel replied in his usual, overly serious tone. The blue-eyed seraph had to admit that he wasn't surprised when both his brothers broke out into loud laughter, though.

 

* * *

 

 

Dean stormed into the hospital, nearly knocking a nurse over in his hurry. There were a lot of things the older Winchester expected -they were on a hunt after all- but a call from the local hospital telling him that his brother had been brought in unconscious, with various injuries -luckily none of them life threatening or too grave- after an accident wasn't one of them.

"Where is he? Where's my brother?" Dean demanded as soon as he reached the reception desk. The older Winchester realized that he probably should have called one of the angels to tell them what was going on, but when he heard what happened Dean couldn't spare the time for a phone call before he went to see Sam. He would give Castiel or Gabriel a call the moment he knew where exactly his younger brother was!

The woman at the reception looked taken aback, making Dean realize that he hadn't given her any of the necessary information. The older Winchester hurried to rectify his mistake, rattling down their emergency contact information. At least the nurse had called Sam Mr. Wayne on the phone, letting Dean know what alias he had to go for.

What the older Winchester didn't notice was that a laboratory worker was listening intently to everything he said. The young woman's eyes flashed black for a moment as she smiled to herself. Both Winchesters in one place and one of them was already weak. Either one of her bosses would undoubtedly be pleased by that.

 

* * *

 

 

The last thing Sam could remember was chasing the delivery guy down the street. The wiry, young man took the first chance he got to cross the busy street, Sam hot on his trail. The squealing of brakes echoed in Sam's mind, even as his eyes snapped open.

It took a few moments before the younger Winchester's eyes were focused enough to allow him to assess his situation. Sam's entire body ached like he had been run over by a truck. Given the circumstances he was probably lucky that it wasn't worse. At least, the pain and injuries -as far as the younger Winchester could tell- seemed appropriate for the type of accident he had been in.

After taking a few more moments to clear his head some and check if any of his limbs were in a cast -luckily they weren't- Sam tried and failed to get into a sitting position. His limbs were unwilling to cooperate. The younger Winchester could have dealt with the pain just fine, but apparently he had been given some pain killers that made concentrating and forcing his stiff limbs to do anything difficult. Sam had to find a way to let Dean know where he was, but he couldn't do that while just lying there. The younger Winchester sighed deeply and settled for looking around. There had to be something like a call button, so he could at least let some nurse or doctor know that he was awake again. It shouldn't be that much of a challenge to press a call button in a hospital. Those things were designed for ill people after all.

Sam found the call button easily enough, but when he was about to press it, his eyes fell on something else. It wasn't surprising that they took the amulet off his neck, since they also put him into one of the -always scratchy- hospital gowns. It was a little surprising that somebody put it on Sam's bedside table, but they probably thought it was something religious, a good luck charm or something of great personal value. They would've been right on all three accounts.

The younger Winchester abandoned his plan to call the nurse. There was somebody much better he could contact, he just had to get his hands on the amulet.


	38. Chapter 38

**37**

 

The demon was pleased with herself. She had reacted quickly and got one of the other demons possessing a doctor to intercept Dean Winchester before he could get to his brother's room. They had to keep the older brother busy while the female demon went to ensure there was no escape for Sam. The younger Winchester was injured and last seen unconscious, she could take him by herself. After that the other demon would lead Dean to his brother's room where they could take him on together.

Her bosses would be impressed with her quick thinking and success. Chances were the one she was directly working under these days would have fun conducting some of his experiments on Dean Winchester. There was no doubt that the big boss wanted Sam Winchester for himself. Lucifer's gratitude was more important to the demon in any case. The former archangel could be very moody and didn't tolerate mistakes, but he also rewarded good work on occasion.

The demon was in high spirits as she opened the door to Sam's room. It was a little surprising that the younger Winchester was awake, not that it mattered. He was still injured in a hospital bed. Whatever weapons Sam might have had when he was brought in were stored away, rendering the hunter effectively harmless.

"Well, well, who do we have there?" the demon asked with a smirk, allowing her eyes to turn black. There was nothing Sam could do to her. From what she heard when Dean spoke to the receptionist, the younger Winchester's injuries should make it impossible for him to run or fight. Something was definitely off though. "What are you grinning about?"

Sam shrugged and only continued to smile. The younger Winchester put his right hand over the place where his amulet was once more resting under his clothes. The demon only managed to take two more steps toward him, before she was stopped by an invisible force.

"He's just happy to see me," Gabriel commented, becoming visible again next to the demon. The archangel had just finished healing Sam when he felt trouble coming their way. Thinking of how they were in a public hospital with a lot of innocent bystanders, it seemed best to make sure their problem was solved as quietly as possible. So Gabriel let the demon come close, before he grabbed her with his powers.

The archangel had every intention to kill the demon quickly and without further ado, but when Gabriel stepped closer to her he sensed something unexpected. "Woah, girl, I hate to tell you, but you stink. Even for demon standards."

The demon scowled, but didn't say anything. Gabriel didn't need her to talk to know that her presence in the hospital was more than just a coincidence anyway. The demon obviously had been in contact with someone far more powerful than herself very recently. That someone had -most likely accidentally- left his marks.

"Sam!" Dean exclaimed as he burst into the room, two angels and another demon hot on his heels, "What were you thinking?"

The older Winchester had been surprised when Castiel and Balthazar suddenly popped up next to him in the hallway. Dean was even more surprised when the doctor the older Winchester was talking to, turned out to be a black-eyed demon. Dean wasn't sure how the angels knew where to find them or that they could use their help, but he couldn't deny that he was grateful they were there. Not that he'd ever tell Balthazar about it, but he made a mental note to thank Cas later.

"What was I thinking getting run over by a car? Nothing much," Sam replied with a snort, "It was an accident."

The younger Winchester finally got out of the hospital bed. Gabriel healed his injuries before the demon showed up and thankfully, the archangel had also replaced Sam's hospital gown with his usual clothes. The younger Winchester wasn't sure if anything short of a bomb threat could've made him leave the bed in that stupid gown. Hospital wear always tended to be too short for him.

"Do you sense it too?" Gabriel asked his brothers. The male demon Castiel and Balthazar brought into the room with them had the same strange aura around him the female did. The archangel had already made up his mind about what it most likely meant, but it would be good to hear a second opinion. Judged by the face Balthazar pulled, the conclusion the seraph drew couldn't be far from Gabriel's.

"Oh, isn't that just grand? If our almighty father could create a stone so big he can't lift it himself and if that stone was a magnet for all things bad, you two would be that stone," Balthazar huffed, throwing his arms in the air showily while glaring at the Winchesters.

"Being cut off from heaven really messed with his head, hasn't it?" Dean commented with a humorless chuckle. The older Winchester -once again- wasn't sure what the hell the angels were talking about, but Balthazar's statement was ridiculous no matter the context. Dean could admit that always being left out of the loop messed with his head, but at least his dark-haired angelic friend always was willing to share the story with him.

"Pestilence seems to be in the building," Castiel informed the Winchesters in a grave tone. They were in a very good position to take on the horseman, but Pestilence was a foe they should not underestimate.

"Let's talk about your boss, shall we?" Gabriel said to the female demon, giving his voice a sickeningly sweet note. The archangel generally wasn't one for yelling, he had other ways to intimidate people and show who the one in control was.

"You'll never stop us now," the demon spat, giving the angels and hunters a smile that could only be described as crazy. They could -and would- kill her, but the war wasn't over. Humanity and everyone on their side were fighting a lost battle, they just didn't know it yet.

"Honey, if I had a buck for every time I heard that..." Gabriel clicked his tongue, before he went on with faked sadness in his tone, "I'd make a bet with you, but I'm afraid you won't be around long enough to see the results."

The archangel looked toward the other demon and then nodded at Castiel. It couldn't hurt to show little miss arrogant why cooperating with them was a good idea. Castiel gave a curt nod of his own before he slammed his palm against the male demon's forehead, killing him.

"Now, you can tell us where we'll find Pestilence and I'll allow you to just go back to hell, otherwise..." Gabriel let his voice trail off. The threat was clear enough.

 

* * *

 

 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Pestilence asked, stepping away from the bed of the now dead patient. The horseman had to say that working in a hospital had its merits. There was a high fluctuation of people for one. With a few forged documents and a careful selection of patients for his experiments, nobody ever questioned where they went after being 'discharged'. The middle aged homeless man hadn't been able to believe his luck when the doctor selected him for special treatment in a private room, but of course he hadn't known that Pestilence wanted to see how quickly a mix of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV -with some added juice- could kill. The result was impressive, but Pestilence was sure he could do better next time.

"I don't understand what this is good for," the demon standing next to the horseman admitted with a shrug, "We already have..."

The demon wouldn't dream of complaining about his current assignment, but Pestilence was clearly wasting his time with the new diseases he was coming up with. They already had a plan for biological warfare that was close to its execution. Apparently, the horseman had a different opinion in the matter though.

"Demons, such simple minded creatures," Pestilence interrupted in an annoyed tone, "Of course, something simpler and easier to spread is necessary to get a grip on the human infestation this world suffers from, but there is much more beauty in the special cases."

Of course a dose of the Croatoan virus was much better suited for decimating the human population, but where was the fun in only working on one disease when there were so many deadly illnesses out there? He was excited to show off what he’d done with small pox. Pestilence still hoped to convince Lucifer to let him have a portion of the inevitable -short term- survivors for further experiments.

"As long as the vaccine gets on the market as planned, we all win," the demon shrugged lightly. There was no use getting into an argument with the horseman when everything was essentially already said and done. Their 'vaccine' would be shipped out and people all over the world would willingly let their doctors inject them with it. The demon had to admit that a health scare always worked miracles in getting people to switch off their brains and just react in panic.

"I don't know, darling, it looks to me like you're definitely on the losing team right now," Balthazar stated casually, just after Dean all but kicked in the door. Apparently, the older Winchester couldn't wait to reaffirm his masculinity by taking charge of a situation he had no business taking charge of. Even Castiel seemed to think that Dean shouldn't be on the front line when it came to facing Pestilence, because the seraph made sure to shield the older Winchester as much as he could.

The demon immediately tried to smoke out of its host body, but Balthazar was faster and killed him before he could escape. The blonde seraph wasn't going to open himself to accusations of making empty threats by letting the demon get away. He'd gladly let somebody else take care of Pestilence, since the man was simply disgusting. Granted, the horseman's current form looked like a respectable scientist in his best years, but Balthazar still saw the disgusting disease dripping thing behind the facade.

Pestilence sneered at the intruders, lashing out with his powers in the hope of throwing them off long enough to escape. The two hunters nearly immediately went down and two of the angels were at least slightly affected, but the third one only gritted his teeth in anger and charged.

"Big mistake," Gabriel hissed, taking a firm hold of Pestilence's arms. Not that they would have let the horseman go in any case, but hurting Sam and Dean was the stupidest thing he could have done. Gabriel would not stand for seeing those two hurt, especially after he had already seen Sam injured in a hospital bed less than an hour earlier.

Castiel quickly manifested his angel blade and cut through three of Pestilence's fingers with it. The horseman's ring fell to the floor as both Winchesters took deep, shuddering breaths and then struggled to get back to their feet.

Gabriel still had a hold on Pestilence's body, but let the horseman go, opting to make sure Sam was completely fine instead. Balthazar was just about to make a snarky comment when Pestilence's head snapped up one final time and the horseman coughed up a big glob of mucus, hitting the blonde seraph square in the chest.

"That's... eww... that's just nasty..." Balthazar whined, pulling a revolted face and shaking his hands in disgust. It didn't help that Dean clearly -poorly- fought laughter that was trying to break free. Granted, the disgusting, but harmless mucus wasn't the worst parting gift someone like Pestilence could have left them with, but the fact that most of it was dripping from Balthazar's shirt while some had even found its way on the naked skin not covered by his v-neck made it a catastrophe anyway.

Castiel frowned deeply, watching his brother's antics. They were lucky their attack on Pestilence went as well as it did, but apparently Balthazar didn't see it that way. However, the blue-eyed seraph realized they had only gotten rid of one part of the problem. The female demon had made it clear there was something more going on and the male demon's words suggested as much too. At least they knew they had to look for information on a vaccine. "We need to find..."

"No, Cassy, not we," Balthazar snapped, glaring at his brother, even if he probably didn't deserve it, " _You_ need to find... whatever. I need to burn my clothes and take multiple showers."

The blonde seraph was gone in a flutter of wings before anybody could say anything.

"Diva," Gabriel chuckled, shaking his head.

The archangel kept a hand in contact with Sam's back as they went to search for documents that might tell them where they had to start looking for the vaccine. It was obvious that Pestilence hadn't kept documents of any kind in the patient's room, so they quickly made their way into the doctor's office to look around there.

Dean was close to commenting on how the search would go faster, if Gabriel could stop with the PDA for a fucking second, when his eyes fell on a sheet of paper with a pharmaceutical logo on it. The older Winchester couldn't help the flash back on his trip to the future and the Croatoan outbreak going on there. Dean was sure Pestilence's end game had something to do with that. They had to keep that possible future from happening at any cost.

"Here," Dean pointed out, holding the document under a lamp so they could take a closer look, "It's about a shipment of swine flu vaccines."

"You think...?" Sam asked, letting his voice trail off because it was pretty obvious what this might be about. The numbers suggested that the shipment was huge. The younger Winchester vaguely remembered hearing of the pharmaceutical company before. The plan was as ingenious as it was horrible. Shooting people up with a virus when they went to get protection against another.

"They wouldn't write 'Pestilence's guaranteed death serum' on it, would they?" Dean retorted, giving his younger brother a challenging look.

"We'll take care of this," Gabriel decided, inclining his head toward Castiel, "You two get out of town."

Realistically, between the archangel and seraph it would only take minutes to wipe out all demons and level the storage facility those vaccines were at. They had an address and name to go by, everything else was only a matter of -very little- time. Everything they heard from the demons before suggested that they felt very secure in their plan, so they wouldn't expect an attack. Besides, Lucifer, Michael and Raphael -who still were the three beings in existence Gabriel had to be most careful about facing- were very unlikely to hang around some warehouse full of disease ridden vaccines on the off chance that they would swing by to destroy it.

"What about the vampire hunt we came for?" Dean asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Fine, they weren't talking about the fate of the world here, but there were still people's lives at stake.

"Somebody's bound to check in with Pestilence or his minions sometime soon and they won't take long to notice we just killed them all," Gabriel replied, raising an eyebrow at the older Winchester, "So, Dean-o what do you think about getting out of town again?"

"We can call Bobby to send another hunter," Sam suggested reasonably. Like Dean, the younger Winchester wasn't eager to leave vampires roaming around the city, but he also saw the logic in Gabriel's words. They didn't want to be in town when Lucifer came by to see what happened to his horseman.

"Fine, whatever," Dean huffed. The older Winchester had to admit the archangel had a point, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Sometimes Dean just missed the days when he had been the one calling the shots.


	39. Chapter 39

**38**

 

It never took the Winchester brothers long to collect all their belongings and leave town. John always made it clear that they had to be able to get going in less than fifteen minutes if necessary. Quite a few of the boys' childhood toys got left behind to teach them a lesson when they didn't pay enough attention to keeping their stuff together. With the limited budget for toys -and basically everything else- they generally had, it always hurt badly to lose an action figure or book.

Sam couldn't help, but think of their father looking at his watch impatiently as they threw their duffle bags into the trunk of the Impala. During his childhood the younger Winchester always hated having to be gone this quickly without the chance to say good bye to anyone, but he had to admit that John's training paid off every time they had to get out of town quickly before law-enforcement or some monster caught up with them. Sometimes Sam wished he could've had a little more understanding for their father back then, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.

By the time Dean pulled out of the motel's parking lot, there still was no sign for anybody looking for them. Gabriel was right though, it was only a matter of time. They couldn't afford to hang around for a hunt they couldn't say for sure how long it'd take. Sam gave Bobby a quick call to let the old hunter know to send in somebody else, before leaning back in his seat to relax a little.

"So, I've been wondering," Dean asked, turning the volume of the Impala's radio down after they finally left the city limits, "How did Gabriel and Cas know where we were?"

In fact, the older Winchester had wondered more than once before how Gabriel was able to always find them, but usually something else came up to distract him from the question before he could talk to Sam about it. The easiest -and least troublesome- answer of course was that Sam simply sent Gabriel a text message as they changed locations these days, but Dean couldn't help the nagging feeling there was more about it.

"I... uh... I called him," Sam admitted, studying his brother's profile intently. The younger Winchester knew that the moment to just come out and tell Dean about the amulet had come. If Sam kept his mouth closed or lied abnd told his brother he had somehow gotten his hands on a phone to contact the archangel, it would only spell trouble for the future.

"Okay, Dean, listen... I didn't mean to keep this from you..." Sam went on talking just a little too fast to be casual. The younger Winchester dreaded his brother's reaction, but he had always planned to let Dean in on his secret when the time was right.

"All the best stories start like that," Dean snorted, throwing a quick side glance toward his younger brother. At least Sam didn't look completely wrecked with guilt or anything alike. The older Winchester would've had to pull the car over and punch someone, if he thought he had another confession of the 'I'm meeting Ruby behind your back and I also drink her blood' kind coming his way.

"The time was just never right," Sam sighed, ignoring his brother's comment as best as he could. It wasn't the younger Winchester's plan to keep his brother in the dark, especially when it came to something that was actually nothing but good, but he had to wait for a good moment.

"The longer you talk, the longer I have to think of all the ways I can rip you a new one," Dean retorted, trying and failing to keep his tone calm. However, Sam hadn't said anything to give his older brother a reason to be upset, yet. The older Winchester really had to work on giving his little brother the benefit of the doubt as long as it was reasonably possible.

"Gabriel gave me an amulet we can communicate through," Sam explained, pulling the necklace out from under his shirt. The younger Winchester wasn't sure why showing the amulet to his older brother made him feel exposed, but the uncomfortable feeling was undeniably there. The best explanation Sam could come up with was the amulet nearly feeling like a part of him at this point. He had gotten so used to always wearing it, to feeling connected to Gabriel every second of the day. Maybe this was also the reason why Sam was afraid of what his brother might say -or try to do- about it.

"Oh," Dean shrugged to his brother’s expectant look casually, even though he had to concentrate to keep the Impala's speed level. Somehow he always had the urge to speed when he became upset. That was, when he didn't feel the urge to drink his annoyance away. The older Winchester couldn't put his finger on what exactly bothered him the most about the situation yet, but his stress level was on the rise.

"Oh? That's it?" Sam asked, clearly astonished. The younger Winchester could see there was more to come, but as first reactions went the one he got was much better than expected. In all honesty, Sam expected to get yelled at for keeping secrets from Dean in general, before his older brother even considered what exactly his younger brother had just told him. It seemed the older Winchester was always good for a surprise.

"What did you think I was going to say?" Dean retorted, raising an eyebrow at his brother, "It's basically the same as the phone we gave Cas."

The older Winchester was still driving, so he couldn't stare his brother down like he wanted. Dean settled for throwing side glances toward Sam every so often. He was willing to throw his younger brother a bone and assume that the whole thing was really harmless. That didn't mean the older Winchester wasn't on the lookout for anything his brother might still be hiding, though. Dean had given Sam the perfect opening to confess, if there was more. The older Winchester couldn't promise he wouldn't go through the roof when he heard what more confessions Sam had to make, but he would try to stay calm. There definitely would be hell to pay, if it turned out later that his brother was still hiding things.

"Yeah, I guess. More on the magical side, but yeah," Sam agreed, sounding a little confused. Gabriel compared their amulets to a grace-to-soul tin can phone when they first got them, so Dean's comparison was fitting.

"So, no big deal," Dean concluded, directing his full attention back to the road ahead. The older Winchester chose to believe his brother's words for now. Dean liked to think he knew Sam well enough to tell when he was lying. Hell, his younger brother was one of those who always had their feelings written all over his face. Dean could admit that he sometimes misjudged what exactly made Sam look guilty, but he never failed to notice when it happened. Though, in that moment his brother only looked honestly baffled.

"Uh... yeah, I mean no, I mean you're right," Sam stammered. The younger Winchester thought his brother was going somewhere with this, but he couldn't figure out what exactly Dean was aiming for.

"If it's not a big deal, why didn't you just tell me?" Dean asked with a groan. It always bothered the older Winchester when Sam kept things from him. Maybe he should have been grateful that it was about something harmless this time, but somehow that made it even worse. Why the hell would Sam think he couldn't talk to his family about things that weren't even a big deal? His younger brother didn't even claim it was so unimportant he didn't think to mention it. No, Sam didn't mention something that was clearly important to him, because he assumed Dean would blow up on him or something alike. It looked like they both seriously had to work on not always assuming the worst of the other as a first instinct.

"Dean, you don't like Gabriel," Sam groaned before he admitted, "I... I thought you'd make a big deal out of it."

At least they were being completely honest with each other. The older Winchester all, but said he was disappointed to be left out of the loop and Sam clearly stated he was afraid of his brother's reaction.

"Woah, it's not that I... okay, I don't exactly like him, but that doesn't mean I'd..." Dean started to object before he let his voice trail off. If he was being honest, the older Winchester would have suspected foul play the moment his younger brother told him of any magical connection he had with Gabriel, magical item or not. However, Dean liked to think that he was reasonable enough to let Sam explain. "Okay, maybe you're right, but you keeping stuff from me doesn't make him look more trustworthy."

"Okay, yeah, I see your point," Sam admitted, shrugging apologetically. The younger Winchester couldn't quite believe they had just -more or less- calmly discussed an issue and come to a conclusion they both could be satisfied with. Sam realized he couldn't go on keeping things from Dean on the chance that he wouldn't like them and Dean acknowledged he was too quick in his judgment at times.

The younger Winchester turned his whole body toward the window to watch the landscape fly by. He wasn't going to tell Dean, but they were going to have actual 'chick flick' moments without anybody complaining in no time, if they continued down this metaphorical path. The thought made Sam chuckle, but his older brother didn't hear him over the sound of Metallica blasting from the speakers once more.

 

* * *

 

 

"How many bottles did you hide around the house?" Adam groaned, adding another half-empty whiskey bottle to the ever growing recycling pile. Cleaning the common rooms around the house luckily hadn't taken half as long as the youngest Winchester feared when first seeing their new home, but the longer they were there, the more little things that needed to be addressed came up.

As it turned out, Chuck really was a nice guy, but the prophet's ideas of a normal life were very different than Adam's. Tarot, of course, didn't care about those things as long as he had his clocks and a coffee machine to work with. The seraph still didn't have his own ideas about what he wanted out of life, other than going with what Adam wanted. The youngest Winchester was determined to help his angelic friend with his self-development, but he knew that was a long term project. Having a serious talk to Chuck about his hidden bottles -one of which seemed to turn up whenever Adam opened a new cupboard- was something that could be done right away.

"Not too many," Chuck replied, scratching the side of his head awkwardly, "There was no reason to hide them before."

To be fair, the prophet hadn't exactly hidden his bottles to keep the other two from finding them. It was more a matter of growing tired of cleaning and stuffing still useable stuff -mostly half-empty bottles- in whatever convenient place was closest at the time.

"Awesome," Adam huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "You know, Chuck, I was going to ask you to please limit your alcohol consumption before like maybe 3 p.m."

Actually, the least Adam would've been willing to accept what would've been Chuck's promise to store his bottles in one cupboard they agreed on, but there was no use opening a negotiation already giving away what the very least he was willing to settle for was. They had to barter a bit to come to a reasonable agreement. It generally was a good idea to start with a strong demand and then give in little by little, if it was necessary.  
However, looking at the compilation of bottles Adam had collected, he thought a more serious demand had to be made.

"What?" Chuck asked, his eyes comically wide. From all the prophet had seen of Adam before meeting the young man in person, he knew he'd have to make compromises if they were going to live under one roof in peace. They already spent a couple of days restoring the house to the state it was in when Chuck first moved in -with the exception of the prophet's room. The demand Adam made came out of the blue from Chuck's point of view though. It wasn't like Chuck's drinking affected the other two... much.

"But now I think you really have a problem," Adam went on talking, ignoring the prophet, "All this stuff has to go."

Tarot looked up from the cuckoo clock he was working on to try and figure out if Adam was getting himself in trouble. The angel didn't know Chuck well enough to be sure how the small man would react to demands of the kind his human friend was prone to making. The prophet seemed mostly quiet and nice, but they had only known him for a couple of days.

"What?" Chuck repeated in a higher, clearly upset voice. The prophet could admit that there was some truth in Adam's words, but it wasn't Chuck's fault that he had been given the emotionally draining and physically painful visions. He was only trying to cope and coping involved great amounts of alcohol and the peace that came with it.

"You heard me," Adam replied, preparing himself for the argument he was sure would follow. The youngest Winchester didn't expect the prophet to let him get away easily. Adam realized that he didn't have the actual right to tell Chuck what he had to do, but he could try to get the man to see reason. It had become apparent over the past few days that the prophet used alcohol to try and solve his problems, when really he was only adding another problem with it.

The youngest Winchester couldn't hide his surprise when the prophet simply turned around and left the room without a word. Adam looked toward Tarot and shrugged when the seraph gave him a puzzled look. Damned if he knew what exactly just happened, he probably overestimated Chuck's willingness to search for a confrontation.

Tarot blew out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The prospect of a -possibly noisy- argument between his two roommates bothered the angel more than he first realized. He understood that Adam always stood up for what he believed was best. It was an admirable trait, but it often led to fights.

Even as a writer, Chuck couldn't find fitting words to tell Adam what exactly he thought about the youngest Winchester's latest idea, but the prophet made a mental note to throw a few less than positive descriptions of Adam into the books he appeared in before they got published. Chuck idly wondered if lightning would strike him for trying to mess with what was to become the Winchester gospel, but with the prospect of having to get through the days completely sober in the future, he couldn't say he'd mind too much.


	40. Chapter 40

**39**

 

It didn't take Castiel and Gabriel more than an hour to kill the totality of demons in the warehouse and destroy all the fake swine-flu vaccines holding the Croatoan virus. In retrospect, the archangel had to admit that he might have channeled his anger and fear over seeing Sam hurt once again, a little too much when taking down the warehouse. There wasn't much left, it was hard to tell there had been a building at all.

"It seems to me you are operating under elevated stress levels," Castiel commented as soon as they got a quiet moment between angels, "I believe 'getting laid' generally helps."

Gabriel blinked a couple of times, staring at his younger brother dumbly. Try as he might, the archangel couldn't think of a fitting response, so he settled for laughing, loudly. Gabriel was out of breath and holding on to Castiel's shoulders by the time he managed to calm down.

"It was you who told me to learn more about human customs," Castiel stated indignantly when he had his older brother's attention again. The blue-eyed seraph hadn't had as much time as he would have liked to speak to Dean about private matters yet, but he was getting forward in his education by watching their human team-members even more closely than before. However, his brothers always seemed to laugh at him when he utilized his acquired knowledge.

"You're right and Cassy... please, don't ever stop learning," Gabriel replied, trying not to laugh this time even if it was incredibly hard. The archangel felt some of the stress draining from his body, but he knew he wouldn't be able to relax completely until he could make sure that Sam was completely fine and safe once again.

"Who am I to argue with your newfound wisdom?" Gabriel asked in a fake serious tone a moment later, "I've got a moose to hunt down."

Castiel nodded, satisfied. Gabriel needed to be on top of his game, if they were going to finally get a fruit of the tree of life and go through with their plan. Spending time with Sam always was good for the archangel's mood. Besides, if Gabriel and Sam were spending the evening together, Dean could quite possibly use a companion as well. There were a lot of things Castiel still had to learn.

 

* * *

 

 

"Gabe, I'm fine," Sam sighed, "You healed me yourself, remember?"

It had taken some time before the younger Winchester realized there was something strange about the way Gabriel was kissing and nipping at his skin. They were both down to their boxers and Sam always enjoyed it when Gabriel planted little kisses all over his neck and chest, but there was something off about the archangel's touch. It was like Gabriel needed to reassure himself that Sam was still there and unharmed.

"I just don't like it when you get hurt," Gabriel replied, trying and failing to make his shrug look casual. The archangel propped himself up with his elbows on either side of Sam's chest, to look the taller man in the eyes.

"I'm a hunter, I've gotten hurt more often than I care to remember," Sam pointed out, before he leaned in to press their lips together.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Gabriel pouted slightly, as he continued to trace the younger Winchester's ribs that had been cracked not too long ago.

"No, it doesn't," Sam agreed in a gentle tone, before he took Gabriel's hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. The younger Winchester understood where his partner was coming from, he really did. Sam couldn't stand the thought of losing Gabriel any more than the archangel could stand the thought of losing him. Their lives were dangerous, there was no use denying it, but they didn't have to focus on the possibility of their worst fears coming true when there were much nicer things to think about. "I told Dean about the amulet earlier."

"And he didn't even try to shoot me," Gabriel replied with a grin. The older Winchester had left the room very quickly when the archangel popped in, but there was nothing unusual about that. If it wasn’t so laughable, it would almost seem like Dean was afraid they could get overwhelmed by lust and start something before he managed to get out of the room.

"He actually took it pretty well," Sam shrugged with a small smile, before he amended, "Except for the fact I didn't tell him immediately."

"Fascinating. There is hope for Dean-o, yet," Gabriel stated teasingly. The archangel hesitated for a moment before he brought up something he had always meant to tell Sam. There was no good reason not to do it now. "Speaking of the amulet... there's a minor detail I never got around telling you. Before you go all hunter on me, I promise it’s nothing to worry about."

Sam frowned slightly, but stayed relaxed otherwise. The younger Winchester trusted the archangel with his heart and soul, whatever it was Gabriel had to tell him, couldn't be that bad.

"Remember when I burned the demon blood out of your system?" Gabriel asked rhetorically, there was no chance Sam forgot about that experience, "I told you I lost control, and that your soul latched on to my grace."

Sam nodded. The younger Winchester would always remember that night for a lot of reasons. It was the night he relapsed on demon blood, but it was also the night Gabriel rid him of the addiction.Most importantly though,it was the night Sam Winchester was purified like he never believed would be possible and it was the night they finally admitted to their feelings for each other. "I remember."

"I suppose it did that, because... with the feelings involved and the bond we already had... the amulets connected us on a deeper level than I anticipated," Gabriel cleared his throat a little awkwardly, "Your soul, my grace... what can I say? They just clicked."

"So wait, you're saying my soul and your grace knew we belong together all along?" Sam smiled, wrapping his arms around the archangel's back to bring them closer together. Call him sappy, but the younger Winchester liked the idea of his soul and Gabriel's grace simply knowing they had to hold on to each other.

"If you put it like that, it's pretty sweet," Gabriel smiled back, before he caught Sam's lower lip between his. They kissed a few long moments, before the archangel pulled back slightly to ask, "What did you say when Dean'll be back?"

"Not before I send him an 'everyone's fully clothed and behaving themselves' message," Sam replied, a playful glint in his eyes. Dean made it very clear that he wouldn't take any chances in this. There was no way he was going to return before he knew for sure nothing inappropriate was going on. Sam came close to pointing out how he had the misfortune of walking in on Dean often enough, so it'd only be fair if the roles were reversed for once, but it was a huge step forward for his older brother to acknowledge Sam and Gabriel had a physical relationship that went further than holding hands or kissing. Not to mention Dean's newly collected brownie points for not freaking out over the amulet.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Gabriel grinned, leaning in for a kiss that turned heated in no time flat. The archangel was a little surprised when Sam rolled them over and straddled Gabriel's waist. Apparently, the younger Winchester was in a good and playful mood. Who was Gabriel to complain about that?

The way Sam rolled his hips against the archangel's had them both panting and moaning, but the two layers of fabric between them kept the experience from being fully satisfying. Gabriel put his hands on his partner's hips, dipping his fingers under the elastic band of Sam's boxers a couple of times before he made sure to lock eyes with the taller man. It took nothing more than a thought to remove the last of their clothes and instead make some lube appear.

Gabriel usually liked to take his sweet time making sure Sam was thoroughly prepared, but that day he seemed hell bent on finding out how much Sam could take before he batted Gabriel's hand away and took matters into his own hands.

The younger Winchester considered paying the archangel back by going slow and not allowing Gabriel to take even the slightest bit of control back. However, once Sam was fully seated in Gabriel's lap with the archangel's hands back on his hips, the younger Winchester couldn't help falling in pace with his partner. It didn't take either one of them long to reach the point of no return.

"Don't wanna move," Sam mumbled, still on top of Gabriel and slurring his words due to exhaustion and post-orgasmic relaxation.

"Nobody's forcing you to, muffin," Gabriel pointed out, running his fingers through Sam's hair and gently massaging his scalp. With anybody else the archangel would've minded the thought of spending the night trapped on the bed under their body, but Sam could act as Gabriel's blanket any day and he'd take it with a smile.

"You gotta be the best boyfriend ever," Sam chuckled tiredly against Gabriel's neck, before he allowed himself to relax completely. Once he was a little more awake again, the younger Winchester would realize what a strange picture the two of them had to make that moment -any outsider would think he was crushing Gabriel under his weight- but as things were Sam drifted off to sleep, completely content with being as close as possible to the man he loved.

"Love you, too," Gabriel whispered, planting a lingering kiss against the side of Sam's head.

 

* * *

 

 

Adam groaned quietly as he left the living room. The youngest Winchester wasn't entirely sure what it meant when Chuck kept looking his way, then always quickly turning back to the notepad in front of him when Adam looked back. It seemed like Chuck was writing something, but when Adam passed by the prophet on the way out, the shorter man quickly put his forearm across the page to keep the youngest Winchester from seeing anything.

Adam assumed Chuck was mad at him -and showing it in the most passive aggressive way possible- but as long as the prophet wasn't ready to drop the passive act and talk it over, there was no use pursuing a conversation about their disagreement.

The youngest Winchester decided to go upstairs and read one of his medical textbooks when another issue, one that could and should be dealt with immediately, presented itself.

"Hey, what's up?" Adam asked in a gentle tone, taking a seat next to his angelic friend on the stairs. The seraph seemed deep in thought, which wasn't necessarily unusual. Tarot sometimes stared into space for a while, especially when something triggered an unpleasant memory.

"Can I... could I... go outside?" Tarot asked, never taking his eyes off the door. The angel wasn't sure if he even wanted to leave the house, but it would be good to know if he could. It was always possible that some crisis came up and quick decisions had to be made. It wouldn't be good if Tarot had to waste valuable time trying to figure out what he could and couldn't do, when push came to shove.

"Uh... Gabriel said the garden was a protected zone, so yeah," Adam replied with a shrug. The archangel explained there was some sort of spell over the entire property that made everyone pretty much ignorant to anything that happened in its barriers, in addition to the wardings against demons, angels and all sorts of monsters. Apparently, Gabriel intended to lift the spell that made them all, but invisible to their neighbors as soon as nobody was looking for them anymore. The other wardings were there to stay.

"Thank you," Tarot stated in a much too grateful tone for Adam's liking, before he leaned in to hug his friend. The angel didn't expect Adam to forbid him from doing many things he wanted to do, but after witnessing the talk his friend had with Chuck earlier, Tarot figured it would be better to make sure he knew what rules there were.

"Woah... Terry... what..? Why are you thanking me?" Adam frowned deeply. Sure, people thanked others for getting information all the time, but it sounded like Tarot was thanking him for something else entirely.

"I... I thought... when... when we left B-Bobby... I thought, you... I'd be..." the angel stammered. It wasn't easy to explain what he had been thinking, when it was already so obvious he had gone wrong somewhere.

"You thought you'd be bound to me instead?" Adam asked, before he swallowed heavily. It was easy to read from the expression on Tarot's face, that was exactly what the angel assumed. "Hell no!"

Tarot's eyes widened as he recoiled instinctively. The sandy-haired angel wrapped his arms around himself without making the conscious decision to do so. He wanted to know where his freedom ended so he could plan accordingly. Tarot was completely unprepared to hear that there were no limitations anymore and it unsettled him.

"That's a good thing, Terry," Adam insisted, reaching out for his friend to give his shoulders a reassuring squeeze, "You're a member of the team, like everyone else. You've got the same right to say fuck it and rat us out to Michael as everybody else does."

Tarot had a hard enough time imagining he could ever be a member of the team like Adam, Bobby or Castiel were, but he didn't like what Adam was suggesting he could do with his new freedom at all. One of the reasons why Tarot never minded being bound to Bobby was knowing he couldn't possibly give up any information to Michael or any other angel. The seraph had betrayed his own principles and the Winchesters after heavy torture before, he didn't want it to happen again under any circumstances. Now there was nothing, but his own will to prevent these things once again and it was a very worrying realization when he knew all too well he was a mess.

"Bad example, bad joke, not funny. Forget it," Adam pedaled back as quickly as he could. The youngest Winchester thought his angelic friend understood that he hadn't honestly suggested Tarot could or should go and betray them, but he obviously didn't appreciate the stupid joke. "What I was trying to say... uh... if you want to bake pies in the middle of the night and I tell you to stop... you can flip me off and continue. It's your decision."

Tarot relaxed a little after hearing Adam's second example. Of course, the sandy-haired seraph wouldn't want to continue baking pies if it was annoying anybody, but he wouldn't be obliged to stop. It would be Tarot's decision to put his wish to live in peace with the people around him over his wish to bake pies. Choices like those he could deal with.

"And if you wanna dance on the table, singing show tunes and I tell you to stop..." Adam prompted, leaving the statement hanging for Tarot to finish. Someday, the sandy-haired angel would inevitably have to make the one or another hard decision, but for the moment it would be enough for him to realize making choices was something completely normal and not always unpleasant. Though, most of all Adam wanted his friend to see he didn't have to follow the youngest Winchester's every word.

"I... I can... go on doing it a-anyway?" Tarot smiled slightly, meeting Adam's eyes. The angel had a hard enough time simply talking most days, so it was nearly impossible to imagine he could ever sing for anybody to hear, but the mental image was amusing.

"Yeah," Adam agreed, before he added with a grin, "It's only my decision if I'm going to punch you or join you."

The youngest Winchester's first impulse was to apologize for another stupid joke. Adam hoped Tarot knew he wouldn't punch him under any circumstances and least of all because of the angel telling him no, but unfortunately it was likely that his angelic friend would take the joke all too seriously.  
The youngest Winchester was about to open his mouth when a quiet noise stopped him. Adam blinked a couple of times, before he was sure his ears weren't just playing tricks on him. Tarot was honest to God chuckling.


	41. Chapter 41

**40**

 

"The torment of the great king Charles by the claws of the nasty dragon Mada," Gabriel recited from the title of the manuscript Chuck was working on, "Dare I guess you're having problems, Chuckles?"

The archangel decided to pop in and see how the non-hunter part of the team was doing while he still had the time. Things were going slow, but once they got their hands on a fruit from the tree of life Gabriel wouldn't have much time left to arrange his affairs. He had to start with tying up all the loose ends and decided to start sooner rather than later.

"Don't... don't do that!" Chuck exclaimed, before he quickly turned the papers on the table over so nobody could read them. It was bad enough Gabriel had seen the title of his newest work, the prophet really couldn't have anybody else catching a glimpse!

"You seem stressed... and jittery," Gabriel observed with a grin, before he amended, "More than usual I mean."

The numerous empty coffee cups strewn on the table might explain why Chuck seemed jumpier than usual that day. The archangel noticed Tarot standing in the doorway with another cup of coffee at the ready, but when the angel saw his older brother he turned back, possibly to alert Adam of Gabriel's presence. The archangel meant to speak to the youngest Winchester anyway, so that suited him just fine.

"I'd like to see you try to bear with all this prophet crap completely sober," Chuck groaned, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. It was bad enough his visions gave Chuck migraines -and maybe the alcohol never really helped with those anyway- but they were extremely emotionally draining to boot. Before Chuck knew everything he saw in his dreams actually happened, they were just bad dreams that helped him write, but the awareness that those people were real and suffering made real nightmares out of those bad dreams.

"Ah, young Milligan found a new hobby," Gabriel stated with a slight smirk.

"You knew this was going to happen!" Chuck accused the archangel in a wounded tone. The prophet wasn't kidding himself into believing that he and Gabriel were best friends, but he thought the archangel was fond enough of him to keep him from - even non-lethal- harm. To be fair, one of the people the archangel dropped off with Chuck was quiet, generally unobtrusive and always kept a cup of coffee with exactly the right amount of sugar and milk ready for the prophet. The other one was the booze stealing... dragon.

"Nope," Gabriel replied, popping the p for all it was worth, "But I had an idea that Adam might try to improve your general lifestyle."

After getting to know Adam a little, the archangel figured that the young man was a strange mix between his older brothers in some things. Adam sure had Sam's empathy and wish to make the world a better place, but at the same time he took after Dean when it came to bossiness and his incapability to bear just being passive for a while.

"What improvements? I liked the way things were going! I sure wasn't this stressed before," Chuck complained in an admittedly whiny tone. So it might have been nice to finally have people around again, people who knew what was going on too. Fine, Chuck couldn't talk about anything connected to Gabriel's great plan, but he could at least share his thoughts on having to see what Sam and Gabriel got up to when they were by themselves. Mercifully, the scenes ended before the prophet had to see anything too inappropriate most of the time. However, he of course had to get a roommate who wanted to improve Chuck's lifestyle instead of simply listening to his complaints. The prophet's breath came a little faster as he worked himself up. "All this stress isn't good... I can feel my heart racing..."

"Maybe you should go a little slower on the coffee then," Gabriel shrugged. Obviously, the prophet and the youngest Winchester had a lot of things they had to clear up between them, but it really wasn't the archangel's job to take care of that. They were -more or less- reasonable adults in the middle of a petty conflict, Gabriel had enough on his plate without adding domestic disputes and that sort of thing.

"Sure! Take that away from me too!" Chuck exclaimed with uncharacteristic heat in his voice. The prophet hardly ever pushed back. He was the type of person to sulk and passive-aggressively write stories about people he felt wronged him, but there was only so much he was willing to take.

"Oh for..." Adam groaned loudly, pushing a bottle of whiskey into Chuck's hands, "Here, go ahead! Be a drunk, ruin your liver, see if I care!"

Tarot had informed the youngest Winchester of Gabriel's visit and Adam figured he'd want to know why the archangel decided to drop by. There was always the chance Gabriel had something important to share and -more importantly- there was always the chance nobody would think to inform Adam of whatever it was, if he wasn't present to hear it.

As things were, the youngest Winchester arrived just in time to hear Chuck complain about the lack of alcohol. Adam's quick temper immediately made him reach for one of the unopened bottles of whiskey he hadn't thrown out, but kept hidden for the time when Chuck would inevitably want a glass or two. So what if Chuck wanted to drink to the point of passing out? If the prophet thought his life was better like that, Adam wouldn't stop him. However, Chuck really could've just talked to him about it instead of complaining behind his back.

"You're not the boss of me!" Chuck yelled, surprising everyone -including himself- with it and passed the bottle straight back to Adam, "You can't tell me what to do all the time!"

The prophet quickly left the room, before he got the chance to regret what he had just done. Chuck made a beeline for the kitchen. He'd get himself some more coffee and sulk a little more. Though, Chuck realized this time he mostly had himself to blame. It was his decision to start showing Adam where the limits of his yielding were when insisting he wouldn't be told to start drinking again, after going through nearly a week of forced abstinence.

"You know Adam, I'm running out of good roommates for you," Gabriel stated with a smirk, "You better make it work with him."

Adam huffed out a chuckle. Crazy as it might sound, the youngest Winchester actually thought he and Chuck might've made a breakthrough there. At least, the prophet clearly spoke his mind for once. They could work with that.

The second surprise of the hour came when Tarot entered the room, standing next to Adam. However, the sandy-haired angel's focus was clearly on Gabriel, as he strived to find the right words to express what he needed to say.

"I... I don't... don't want to go b-back to h-heaven," Tarot mumbled, lifting his eyes for a moment to establish eye-contact with his older brother. The sandy-haired angel took a deep, steadying breath before he added, "And I don't... don't want to... f-fight."

Gabriel gave a small, acknowledging nod. The archangel had a feeling his brother would stop speaking out to him the moment he felt even the slightest little bit intimidated and given Tarot's behavior toward Gabriel in the past months, just about anything the archangel might do could count as intimidation.

"Nobody's asking you to, Terry," Adam was quick to reassure his friend, "And -remember?- it's all your choice."

Tarot nodded shakily. He knew nobody wanted him to be involved in any of the fights ahead of them and he knew he was meant to make his own decisions now. In all honesty, Tarot would be of very little use to anybody in a battle and they all knew it. That wasn't what he was getting at anyway.

"I don't... don't want to fight a-and to... to use my... my g-g-g...," Tarot stuttered, the thought obviously upsetting him. The angel forced himself to take another deep breath, before he managed to get to the part that really had to be said, "B-but... I need to be a-able to."

In the end, if trouble came looking for them and if all the wardings Gabriel put up somehow failed, Tarot was the one best equipped to defend them. In theory, anyway. Even at the best of times, the sandy-haired seraph was a weak fighter. His interests had always been far removed from anything battle related. However, Tarot was an angel and that alone gave him a certain advantage over most beings that might attack. If he was at full strength, that was.

"Just say what you want and you've got it," Gabriel promised, giving his brother a small, encouraging smile.

"Heal my g-grace," Tarot said quietly, but clearly, "Please."

Adam looked at his friend with wide eyes for a moment, before he stepped closer to put one hand on Tarot's back and hold the other out for the angel to take. The youngest Winchester had promised to be there and offer any kind of support he could when Tarot chose to take the archangel's offer to be healed.

"Look at me," Gabriel replied, waiting for his golden eyes to lock with his brother greyish-blues ones before he stated, "I'm proud of you, brother."

Tarot gave his older brother a tiny, nervous smile, as he squeezed Adam's hand. A part of the angel didn't want this to happen. He could deal with the constant pain his damaged grace still caused him and he could live with never flying again, if it meant he'd be left alone to simply live amongst people he liked and trusted without any heavy responsibilities looming over him.

At the same time, Tarot wanted the freedom Adam told him time and time again he had the right to have. He wanted the chance to make his own choices and stand by them. He wanted to find out who he really was and all that included letting go of the wounded part that defined him in the eyes of most people. The angel knew he'd still be damaged -quite possibly always would be- but it'd be in his power to work on all the issues he had and progress, once the physical aspect was dealt with.

Tarot tried not to flinch when Gabriel reached out to touch him. Adam tightened his grip on the angel, anyway. The youngest Winchester wasn't sure what he expected, but the archangel pulled his hand away a couple moments later without anything visibly happening.

"How're you feeling?" Adam asked his friend after a few seconds of silence. Gabriel seemed satisfied with his work, so it was a safe guess something had happened, even if Adam hadn't seen it.

"B-better," Tarot replied, nodding for emphasis, "Not... not that different."

The angel smiled at the human. He hoped Adam understood what he was trying to say. The dull ache that constantly accompanied him every second of the day before was gone now, but nothing else changed. Tarot still felt like himself. Apparently, Adam got the idea, as he smiled back and patted his friend's shoulder.

"Know what? I'll just leave this folder here for you to look through later," Gabriel cleared his throat, holding up a thick blue folder, filled with what seemed to be a lot of documents, "Just a couple legal papers that might be useful eventually."

"Legal papers? Oh, you mean in case I ever need to not be dead," Adam commented with a snort. Even if the youngest Winchester had access to his old documents -it was highly doubtful anybody cared to store them after he and his mother died- they'd never stand up to any kind of background check. Everything he'd ever had, birth certificates, report cards, driver's license, had expired the moment he died. Anybody looking into it would find out about that easily enough.

"I'm sure they can always use dead people at med school, but I thought you'd like to be on the other side," Gabriel replied, giving Adam a self-satisfied smirk when the young man only stared at him openly. The archangel wouldn't pretend to know too many things about the youngest Winchester, but Sam filled him in on some interesting details.

"Seriously?" Adam asked, not yet willing to believe what the archangel told him. It seemed too good to be true that Gabriel remembered him enough to have gotten all the necessary papers for him to apply to med school. Adam would have to look through the folder as soon as possible. What the youngest Winchester didn't know was that he'd also find legal papers for Tarot Shurley -first cousin of Chuck Shurley, as an added surprise to the prophet- and details for bank accounts in his and Tarot's name.

"Gotta have a career plan for after the Apocalypse," Gabriel shrugged lightly, "We don't tolerate slackers in this family, young man."

Adam's 'thanks, man' fell on deaf ears, as the archangel suddenly went to his knees. Gabriel hardly heard Adam and Tarot's alarmed voices over the sound of a gunshot resonating in his head. The line between Sam and Gabriel went dead less than a second later. It's absence left the archangel with nearly unbearable silence and the realization that Sam tried to get a message to him before he died.

 

* * *

 

 

Already knowing what he had to expect, didn't prepare Gabriel for the sight of Sam and Dean lying dead on their motel beds. The archangel faintly noticed Castiel and Balthazar's presence, but he was too focused on the two hunters to pay them any attention.

"Gabriel, no!" Castiel exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the archangel's upper body from behind to keep his older brother from touching Sam's body. The blue-eyed seraph didn't like seeing the Winchesters like this any more than the archangel did, but unlike Gabriel, he also saw a chance in it.

"Let me go!" Gabriel yelled, getting ready to fight his brother off, if Castiel forced him to, "I swear, I will..."

"They can get into the garden!" Castiel stated in an urgent tone, hoping the archangel would listen to him. The Winchesters were dead, their souls gone. If -and it wasn't a very big if in Castiel's opinion- their souls were in heaven, they could attempt to get into the garden and ask Joshua for a fruit from the tree of life.

"I don't care!" Gabriel yelled again, as his powers lashed out and sent Castiel flying.

The archangel never meant to seriously harm his brother, so Castiel got back to his feet immediately. The seraph knew better than to restrain Gabriel again, though.

"They won't be more or less dead in an hour or two," Balthazar commented, which immediately earned him a murderous glare from his older brother. The British angel stood between Gabriel and the bodies of the Winchester brothers. Balthazar half expected to hit a wall face first at any second, but it looked like Gabriel finally started to think about what his brothers were trying to tell him.

"Something good can come of this, if we act rationally now," Castiel insisted, trying to catch his brother's eyes. The archangel had to see the truth in the seraph's words. They had tried and failed to come up with a feasible plan to get to the garden for a long time. This was the best chance they had. Sending messages to guide Sam and Dean through heaven was possible where getting back into heaven without great personal risk wasn't. Being human also gave them the advantage of incognito with the other billions of souls residing in heaven.

Gabriel was physically shaking from the effort it took not to push his brothers aside and get Sam and Dean's souls back where they belonged immediately. The archangel couldn't just stand there and wait, knowing he could heal their bodies and call their souls back. He couldn't look at what was Sam when he felt with every fiber of his being, he'd lost him once again when the connection between them was gone. Gabriel had to get out -let Castiel and Balthazar go through with what he rationally knew was a good plan- and find a way to deal with the overwhelming emptiness he felt. The archangel was gone within the blink of an eye, offering no explanation to his brothers.

"I swear, he always goes bonkers when it's about Mr. Muscle," Balthazar groaned, as he watched Castiel approach Dean's lifeless body. Apparently, it was up to the two of them to make sure the Winchesters knew what they were supposed to do while they were conveniently upstairs already.

"You have no idea, Balthazar," Castiel replied in a tone his brother didn't like at all. The seraph's tone spoke of secrets, dangers and being completely resigned to both. It was the exact moment Balthazar realized he had to keep a closer eye on what Castiel and Gabriel were doing behind his back.


	42. Chapter 42

**41**

 

"We better move on, they are looking for us," Dean pressed through gritted teeth. Finding Sam in heaven had been easy enough once Castiel told the older Winchester what to do. Apparently, Dean only had to follow his own personal road through heaven and it would inevitably lead him to Sam. The older Winchester grimaced as he started to walk down the road. Maybe it would've been better not to find his younger brother. Then Dean could've still pretended Sam's heaven looked about the same his own did.

"Dean, dammit, Dean!" Sam exclaimed, taking hold of his older brother's shoulder when he caught up with him, "I... I can't even say I'm sorry... I don't have control over any of this."

"So those are your greatest hits?" Dean asked in a harsh tone, looking his younger brother directly in the eyes.

"Of course not!" Sam replied immediately. It wasn't the full truth and by the looks of it, Dean knew that anyway, so the younger Winchester sighed and admitted, "I... okay, they are good memories to me, but..."

Truth be told, the younger Winchester didn't understand why every one of his memories they walked through so far included leaving Dean behind, but he had to admit that none of the memories were unpleasant to him. The Thanksgiving at Stephanie's place gave Sam a taste of normalcy, while being in Flagstaff with Bones and leaving for Stanford were two of the times when the younger Winchester realized that he could leave the life his father wanted him to lead and make it by himself. It wasn't about getting away from Dean, it wasn't even about leaving their dad, it was about freedom and finding himself.

"Forget it, Sam," the older Winchester huffed, not waiting for his brother to finish his statement. No explanations were needed, Dean had seen it all with his own two eyes after all. The older Winchester didn't think he could bear hearing his brother come up with some lie to make him feel better.

"No! Dean, you can't judge me for this. You haven't seen the half of it," Sam insisted, trying to keep up with his older brother. Dean walked down the street, determined to ignore the younger version of Sam standing by the bus stop, waiting to be taken away from his family and all the way to California. The younger Winchester understood his brother was hurt, but he couldn't help feeling he was treated unfairly. There were so many good memories that included Dean -had him as the main character even- they only hadn't come up yet!

"Oh just watch me, I can," Dean snorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Of course Sam wanted to talk this over! Too bad, Dean wasn't interested in hearing any of it. Three out of three of Sam's memories they were thrown into included escaping from Dean, like hell the older Winchester couldn't draw conclusions from that!

"Fine, be like that," Sam groaned, before he added icily, "But don't even try to tell me that none of the _awesome_ dates you used to ditch me for when we were kids won't come up eventually."

The younger Winchester really didn't want to start a fight over which one of them hurt the other more, but he wanted his older brother to see Sam wasn't the only one who had good memories that were hurtful from a different perspective.

"Sam..." Dean sighed, turning back to face his younger brother. It was the older Winchester's turn to admit that he hadn't thought of things like that. Of course, he had great memories that didn't include Sam and by the way his brother worded his accusation, a couple of those memories went hand in hand with Sam's memories of being left behind while Dean went out to have fun. The older Winchester wanted to tell his brother he understood, that he might have overreacted a little, though probably not in those exact words. A simple 'okay, fine, so we're even' would have to do. Unfortunately, a roadblock consisting of three angels in dark suits appeared in front of them before Dean could finish speaking.

"So we meet again, Dean," the woman in the middle of the group spoke with a strangely impassive expression, even though the smirk was clearly present in her voice.

"Do I know you?" Dean asked, frowning at the angel. The older Winchester was pretty sure he remembered every living angel they ever met, but this one wasn't among them. "I know I'm the love 'em and leave 'em kinda guy, but I think I'd remember you."

"Humans, the so called pride of creation, unable to see anything that isn't only skin deep," the angel commented in a condescending tone before she leaned closer her eyes flashing dangerously, "Let me help your memory. Today, you are my little bitch."

"Raphael."

 

* * *

 

 

Roy and Walt were in no particular hurry to get out of town. Sure, they just killed two people, but it would be a while before anybody noticed and even longer before anybody brought them in connection with it, if at all. Roy felt a little bad about shooting Dean -maybe they should have waited until Sam was alone- but Walt was right, they didn't want to have Dean Winchester hunting them down in vengeance for killing his brother for the rest of their days. Hell, their days were numbered anyway. The Apocalypse was upon them. They had to make the best of what little time they still had.

"Who are you?" Walt suddenly asked, snapping Roy out of his thoughts. Sure enough there was a guy standing in the middle of their room all of a sudden. Both hunters immediately went for their weapons, which didn't seem to impress the intruder in the slightest.

"I am the one who was going to stop the Apocalypse," Gabriel replied in a dangerously low tone, before he even lifted his gaze to look at the two murderers. The archangel's eyes were glowing golden with barely concealed power, as he gritted his teeth. "And you are the ones who killed the one reason for me to do it."

Finding the two hunters hadn't been a challenge. They hadn't been gone for long when Gabriel arrived in the motel room and the archangel was always god at finding people who had stained their souls. Especially those who darkened their souls enough to be in dire need of being brought to justice. That Roy and Walt obviously didn't even feel guilty only made Gabriel angrier.

"How'd you like it if I advertized that fact to a couple hunters?" the archangel went on, as he held both hunters immobile with his powers. Gabriel could have disarmed them just as easily, but it seemed more nerve-wrecking for them to have their weapons in hand while being completely unable to use them. "Sam Winchester singlehandedly managed to get the archangel Gabriel to care enough for this world to want to save it... and then Roy and Walt shot him."

The archangel balled his fist enough his fingernails dug into his palm, barely keeping from letting the two trapped hunters feel his rising anger level. It would have been easy to crush their ribs or any of their inner organs, preferably some that wouldn't kill them outright.

"Now Gabriel's thinking, fuck it, let them burn," Gabriel added in an icy tone. It gave him some satisfaction to see the panicky expressions on both his captives' faces, but it didn't make the cold, empty feeling in the archangel's chest any less unbearable. Killing them wouldn't undo anything they did, but it was tempting. Very tempting...

"We didn't know..." Roy tried to explain. The hunter wasn't sure if anything the being said in front of them was the truth, but there was no doubt they were totally in his control and he was pissed over what they did.

"But you killed them anyway!" Gabriel yelled, his voice thunderous. The archangel used every ounce of self-control he still had not to scatter the body parts of the two murderers all over the universe, making sure they felt everything before he let them die for good. "One more excuse like that out of your mouth and I will send you straight to hell!"

The moment Gabriel unleashed his wings was the moment every single object made of glass in the room burst into a million pieces. The archangel stalked closer to the two trapped hunters, taking some satisfaction from seeing their eyes widen and feeling their heartbeats accelerate to a rate that usually came right before a heart-attack.

"The only thing saving you right now is that Sam and Dean will be back," Gabriel pressed through gritted teeth, trying hard to rein his temper in again, "And Sam wouldn't want me to take you two apart."

So help him God, the archangel wanted to kill the two murderers. Gabriel not only wanted to kill them, and making it the most painful experience possible, he wanted to call it justice. However, the archangel doubted Sam would see it like that and if there was one thing Gabriel didn't want, it was to have Sam look at him like he was a monster.

"You better let that sink in and never forget it, the only reason you're alive is that the man you murdered in cold blood wouldn't want me to end your lives," the archangel stated with all the angelic authority he could muster up into his voice.

Gabriel closed his eyes tightly and balled his fists again. A big part of him still wanted to dish out his own brand of justice here, but he stood by what he said. Killing them now wouldn't make anything better and it sure wouldn't help Sam and Dean once they got back. There was something else that might at least make the Winchesters' lives easier, though.

"Now get lost and make sure to tell everyone you meet that Sam and Dean Winchester aren't responsible for the Apocalypse, but it's damn well because of them that all this might still have a good end!" Gabriel finished in a commanding tone, before he released the hunters. Roy and Walt had the good sense to scramble for the door immediately. There was only one more thing Gabriel had to say to them anyway. "And don't think I'll keep Dean from doing whatever the hell he wants to either one of you."

 

* * *

 

 

Raphael didn't intend to lose any more time. She would get the Winchesters to somebody who'd make them say whatever they wanted them to in no time flat. Nobody ever said giving the vessels the right motivation to finally own up to their destiny was prohibited. If that motivation came in the form of torture, that was just an added bonus looking at how annoying those two had proven to be. God might have intended for all vessels to give consent out of their own free will, but there were very few who were still hung up on the 'uninfluenced' part of free will.

"Raphael, I'd like to have a word with our guests," a newly arrived angel spoke up before Raphael could take another step toward the Winchester brothers.

"This is none of your business, Joshua," Raphael hissed, glaring at the angel. It was the most emotion the archangel had shown this far. Sam and Dean both realized they had to find a way to get away with Joshua -he was the angel they were looking for after all- but they didn't know how. Joshua didn't exactly look like the kind of guy who could stand his ground against three angels -one of them an archangel- and live to tell the tale.

"I have things to discuss with them. His orders," Joshua insisted in a remarkably gentle tone. By the way the angel intoned the 'His' made it obvious he was speaking about God. Castiel mentioned that for all the blue-eyed seraph knew, Joshua was the only one in contact with their father, but Dean hadn't quiet believed it. Not that it mattered. They had to get to Joshua for the fruit anyway.

"You're lying," Raphael spat, "Get lost before I..."

"Regardless of your own beliefs, Raphael, it was our father personally who put me into this position," Joshua stated calmly, but with a clear air of authority, "Do to me what you want, I'm sure Michael will hear of it."

The oldest of the archangels wouldn't take it lightly if somebody -even another archangel- ignored their father's wishes. Michael knew Joshua well enough to know he wouldn't lie about something like this. Apparently, Raphael realized all this too as she and her goons were gone just a split of a second later.

Then again, maybe it was them who had moved, mused the younger Winchester as he looked at their surroundings. The dark street was gone and instead there were a lot of plants. Sam couldn't say what he expected exactly, but a botanical garden wasn't it. Of course, very little about dealing with angels or heaven had ever been what he expected.

"So, you're Joshua and this is the Garden of Eden?" Dean commented with a slight shrug. The garden was underwhelming for sure, even though it reminded the older Winchester of a place they had been before. Dean couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever this place was a copy of somewhere that held good memories. Apparently, Sam came to the same realization, judged by his thoughtful expression as he looked around.

"We were trying to get to you..." Sam started to explain, before Joshua interrupted him.

"I know," the angel nodded with a small smile, "And I have been authorized to assist you."

Sam and Dean followed Joshua to a different part of the garden. Both Winchesters were trying to come to terms with the fact that God apparently knew all about their plans, but didn't find it necessary to move even a finger to help them. It was confusing that He would allow Joshua to give them a fruit of the tree of life for their plan, when all He had to do to stop the Apocalypse Himself was to go back to heaven and bend a couple of His children over His knee.

The brothers were distracted from their train of thought when Joshua stopped in front of what looked like a banana tree. The moment the angel reached for one of the ripe bananas, the fruit transformed into a glowing ball of energy, vaguely shaped like an apple.

"Careful, handling this kind of fruit usually doesn't go well for humans," Joshua stated as he handed the glowing fruit to Sam.

"Good thing we didn't bring Adam," Sam huffed out a chuckle, as he held the fruit. It felt heavy, but at the same time weightless. The magnitude of the object in his hands hit the younger Winchester just a moment later. It was the last ingredients needed for Gabriel's spell. They were close to stopping the Apocalypse.

"Wait, that's it? You're probably the only person God's still talking to and... that's it? How about some pointers? A little help? This is as much His mess as it's ours!" Dean exclaimed when it became clear Joshua had nothing else to offer them. Granted, getting their hands on the last ingredients needed for one of Gabriel's plans was a pretty big thing, but looking at who the gift came from, it hardly counted as anything. Maybe Dean had too great expectations. It wasn't that long ago Castiel still held out hope to find their father and get him to put his foot down in the entire matter. Castiel's confidence that God would bother to help them, his constant 'if only they found Him' might have influenced Dean a little more than he realized.

"Rest assured God has given you everything you need, but you are right, there is one more thing," Joshua replied kindly, ignoring Dean's indignant tone, "A message for Gabriel: 'Be aware of the consequences.'"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked, but they were enveloped by blinding white light before Joshua could answer.


	43. Chapter 43

**42**

 

The eyes of both Winchesters snapped open the exact same moment, but as Sam landed straight in Gabriel's waiting arms when he sat up abruptly, Dean nearly knocked his head against Castiel's, as the angel leaned over the hunter to make sure everything was okay.

The younger Winchester wouldn't have needed the waves of worry, relief and guilt crashing into him over their connection to tell that the archangel was upset. Gabriel was holding on a bit too tight and Sam could read the expression on his face, recognizing the casual facade the archangel put up when he didn't want to let his real emotions show.

Sam gave Gabriel a gentle smile before he leaned his forehead against the archangel's. The younger Winchester took a moment to get a grip on his emotions, before he managed to push all the love and reassurance as he could muster up through their connection. The way Gabriel's eyes widened in surprise in combination with the fact that the feelings coming through from the archangel's side were much more muted all of a sudden let Sam know his partner never meant to let him feel all this. Gabriel really had to have been upset, if he lost control like that.

The younger Winchester lifted his hand to cup the archangel's face, when his older brother cleared his throat noisily next to him. Right, there were other people around and they had things to discuss. Sam took a deep breath and sent one more thought to Gabriel. There would be time for just the two of them later, they would make time.

"We got it," Sam announced out loud, pulling the glowing fruit from his pocket. They had everything they needed for the spell to take Michael and Lucifer's powers away, which meant they were incredibly close to stopping the Apocalypse. Sam realized with a start that he wasn't surprised. A part of him -and he completely blamed Gabriel for that- always knew they were going to make it.

"By the way, congratulations, you guys have a sister now," Dean snorted, after giving the angels a few seconds to stare at the fruit. However, there were a few other important things about their little trip to heaven they needed to discuss. Raphael's sex change was probably the most insignificant of them, but the older Winchester had a feeling that little detail might get lost in the commotion the other pieces of information would inevitably cause.

"Do you feel brain damaged, Dean?" Balthazar asked clearly faking concern, before he added casually, "More than usual, I mean."

At least Gabriel and Castiel looked interested in what Dean had to say. There were angels using female vessels and the older Winchester should already be very aware of that fact, so he had to be talking about something else. Castiel at least was completely convinced Dean had important information to share.

"Raphael's new vessel is a woman, thought you might like to know that," the older Winchester replied acidly. He was in a bad enough mood without Balthazar, the douchebag, adding to it, but chances were the other news Dean had to tell would spoil everyone else's mood too. "Oh, and God has a message for Gabriel."

The older Winchester realized they had all the ingredients for Gabriel's spell together now. It should have been a good feeling, but Joshua's parting words still rung in his ear. Something fishy was going on. Dean always suspected the archangel wasn't telling them everything, but pushed those thoughts aside again and again for Sam's sake. Now it seemed like the older Winchester should have trusted his gut feeling from the beginning.

"Be aware of the consequences," Dean recited, giving the archangel a challenging look, "Care to explain what daddy dearest meant by that?"

The older Winchester couldn't deny -even if he'd never admit it out loud- that a part of him wanted Gabriel to have a good explanation. Dean told himself it was only about saving Sam the heartbreak of being betrayed by another lover, but if he was being completely honest the older Winchester had gotten used to the archangel's presence some time ago.

"What do you think, Dean-o?" Gabriel replied calmly. The archangel knew he had to thread carefully, while not letting anyone see how cautiously he was choosing his words. Fooling Dean shouldn't be too hard, it was Sam he wasn't sure would fall for it. "Hell's been running without Lucifer for a long time, so things won't change much for them once he's gone again, but we're throwing Michael out of heaven. Things upstairs will have to change without him. There, consequences and I'm very aware of them."

The consequences the archangel mentioned sure were significant, but as he said himself, he was aware of them already. It seemed too simple of an explanation that God would've bothered to send Gabriel a message about something he obviously didn't need to be reminded of. Not to mention, the archangel's explanation left him with a completely white vest, which Dean found hard to believe. The older Winchester was close to calling Gabriel out on his lie, but his younger brother was faster. Dean drew some comfort from the fact Sam obviously wasn't willing to just believe whatever the archangel said.

"Are you sure that's what He meant?" Sam asked with a small, slightly faltered smile. The younger Winchester didn't want to give the impression he didn't believe Gabriel, but maybe there was a chance the archangel was misinterpreting God's words.

"I know you Winchesters are used to levels of bad that make total chaos and possible anarchy in heaven pale in comparison..." Gabriel replied in the kind of smug tone Sam didn't like hearing. Not to mention the archangel's casual facade was still firmly in place. The younger Winchester didn't know how much of it was an aftereffect, from the mayhem of feelings Gabriel felt before, but he was willing to give the archangel the benefit of the doubt. There'd be time for them to have a serious talk later. Hopefully then Gabriel would drop the act and really let Sam in again.

"It will take time and a lot of work to make our brothers and sisters see the merits of free will," Castiel agreed, meeting Dean's unconvinced gaze. Nothing the blue-eyed seraph ever said to them was a lie and the older Winchester usually was willing to believe him. At least, Dean could be swayed toward trusting Gabriel when Castiel expressed it was the right thing to do, most of the time.

"What about Raphael?" Dean couldn't help, but dig deeper. Even if Gabriel told them the truth -which Castiel seemed to think he did- there was still one more archangel they hadn't included in their plans at all this far. From what they had seen recently, Raphael didn't exactly pose much less of a problem than Michael, though. "He... she sure didn't sound like she'd just roll over and present her belly to new management."

Actually, Dean thought Raphael might be worse than Michael even. Michael was following his father's plans in his absence. Dean was far from acknowledging that not too long ago he had done the same thing, but he could understand why Michael was doing what he was doing. Raphael on the other hand lost her belief in God some time ago from what it sounded like, but was still holding on to the plan. However, the older Winchester was distracted from his considerations just a moment later.

"You know, Dean, it says a lot how you immediately come up with dog analogies now that our brother is a sister instead," Balthazar commented with a smirk. Not that Raphael actually changed gender. Angels were by no means limited to the human understanding of gender. There were angels -like Balthazar- who identified themselves as male, others as female and others as both, or neither. Balthazar couldn't help wondering which applied to Castiel. His brother sure seemed comfortable in his vessel, but Balthazar hadn't seen much evidence to suggest Castiel was aware he had a man's body and could use it as such. The British angel figured he'd have to see his dark-haired brother in a woman's body to come to a well-founded conclusion. That, or he could just ask Castiel when he got the chance.

"It says a lot how you're trying to distract me," Dean countered, glaring at Balthazar. The older Winchester was talking about a real issue, while the British angel only made a stupid joke out of it! Dean was at least a little grateful his younger brother fell for the trickster instead of the colossal douchebag. Every time Balthazar was around for any length of time, the older Winchester got a nice reminder that Gabriel wasn't the worst. Not that Dean would ever tell the archangel that.

"It only says I am more respectful toward women than some other people," Balthazar quipped, evidently very satisfied with himself. The British angel didn't have to let Dean know he'd probably be everything but respectful if he ever met Raphael again. Balthazar was never too fond of the two archangels still in heaven, but Raphael was even bossier than Michael, if that was possible. Hell, Michael at least acknowledged a higher authority than himself existed. Raphael only acknowledged Michael and only because she had to show the more powerful angel some respect.

"I'll take care of Raphael," Gabriel spoke up, before his younger brother and the older Winchester could argue even more. The archangel wanted nothing more than to just take Sam and whisk him away to some private place. Gabriel needed a chance to calm down and let go of the fear and anger leftover from losing Sam, but he wouldn't get to until all questions were answered.

"How?" the younger Winchester asked in a clearly worried tone. Taking on Michael and Lucifer with a spell, that didn't require Gabriel to be anywhere near them or their angel blades at the time it was worked was one thing, going up against Raphael in person was another entirely.

"Don't worry, Sambo, I've beat Raphy before, I'll do it again," Gabriel shrugged.

The archangel's seemingly flippant attitude did nothing to reassure the younger Winchester. Sam knew Gabriel would talk differently if he wasn't still hiding his true emotions away, but the younger Winchester couldn't help fearing the content of the statement would stay the same, even if the words used might be softer under different circumstances. It was all Sam could do that moment to reach out for Gabriel and intertwine their fingers. The archangel's small smile was no more heartfelt than the younger Winchester's answering one.

Dean's cell phone started to ring before anybody could say another word.

"Perfect timing, Bobby, I was just about to shoot an angel or two," Dean greeted the old hunter, while still glaring at Balthazar. The older Winchester hadn't exactly planned to let Bobby know they died and went to heaven over the phone, but he wouldn't have gotten the chance to anyway. It was obvious Bobby was annoyed, which put Dean on edge immediately, waiting for an explanation. The older Winchester's mood didn't get any better once he heard what Bobby actually had to say. "What do you mean you've got a demon in your living room and he wants a deal?"

The old hunter got a heartfelt 'idjit' in before he repeated how he a certain crossroads demon was sitting in his living room, insulting the old hunter's whiskey and generally being a nuisance. Bobby was tempted to rattle off an exorcism or do worse to the pesky demon and the fact Crowley helped them before wouldn't have stopped him. However the demon wanted to make a deal with them, saying he had valuable information. Demons lied more often than not, but if there was a chance Crowley really was their ally for the time being, they probably wanted to hear what he had to offer.

"We'll be there in..." Dean started, before he got rudely interrupted by a sudden shift in surroundings. The entire group was standing in Bobby's living room all of a sudden. The older Winchester hated being transported without being asked first. Actually, chances were he'd say no every time he was asked! Of course none of the angels would have to suffer the digestive consequences of their little trip. "Son of a bitch!"

"Don't look at me, you moron," Balthazar exclaimed in mock outrage at being Dean's main suspect, "Even if it's tempting to do whatever necessary to see the lovely pissed off expression on your face, I don't have the power required to transport five people and a car at once."

Not to mention there were two more angels in the group and transporting an angel against their will was pretty hard to do. Besides, Balthazar wouldn't have bothered to take the Impala along. Dean could have figured out how he'd get his precious car back, if the British angel had been behind their change of location.

"Sorry Dean-o, I just didn't want to waste time here," Gabriel shrugged, giving Dean a half-hearted apologetic look. The archangel couldn't honestly say he was sorry for acting without consulting the entire group on the matter first. Bobby called and needed them to come to his house ASAP, Gabriel made it happen, end of discussion.

"Awesome, just awesome," Dean groaned, barely resisting the rude gesture he wanted to make. The general mood in the room was about as bad as it could get, which did nothing to help the older Winchester calm down.

"Oh please, don't pay attention to the demon in the room," Crowley stated in his trademark snobbish tone, "I'm serious, it's a joy to watch you have these petty arguments. They don't make entertainment like this anymore."

"Have you ever been to the Spearmint Rhino, mate?" Balthazar asked with a smirk. The demon had style, the angel had to give him that. Too bad Crowley was a hellish pest. Balthazar never understood what Lucifer was thinking when he created demons, but if there were more like this one maybe the British angel could understand their purpose from an entertainment point of view.

"You know Crowley, we're kinda busy right now," Gabriel commented, ignoring his brother's statement, "And I don't think anybody around is interested in making any sort of deal with you. Sorry, but your long-term investment plans suck."

The archangel wasn't in the mood to negotiate any deals. They already had everything they needed anyway. All that was missing was some time to cool down, so they all could process everything that happened that day. In short they had no use for anything Crowley could or would offer. Then again, Gabriel had been wrong before. The demon sure seemed to think he was in a good position to negotiate.

"You're always such a delightful fellow," Crowley sneered, "And I think you are spending too much time around Winchesters, you're adapting their ruffian business morals."

"This better be good," Dean stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Nobody was going to sell their soul for anything the demon had to offer that much was for sure. The older Winchester would see to that, even if he had to kill Crowley singlehandedly before any deals could be made!

"I know where to find Death."


	44. Chapter 44

**43**

 

"So you're trying to sell us something we don't want nor need," Balthazar snarked, raising his eyebrows at the demon, "I hope your price is good."

It was bad enough Balthazar had to go up against Pestilence basically by himself. The British angel still shuddered thinking of the horseman all but exploding all over him. Death, while not quite as disgusting as his brother, was somebody Balthazar never wanted to meet, especially since they had everything they needed to de-power Michael and Lucifer.

"Good one, pigeon," Crowley retorted, keeping his tone nonchalant, "The horsemen keep disappearing after having run-ins with dumb and dumber, but I'm sure that's nothing more than a coincidence and doesn't at all mean you're still missing one for quads."

The lower-level angel wasn't the one the demon wanted to talk to anyway. There was no use making a contract of the magnitude Crowley had in mind with an underling; the boss' signature was needed here. It was just typical for the archangel to be more tongue-tied than usual the one time Crowley wanted him to talk.

"Are you familiar with the term 'backup plan'?" Balthazar shrugged casually, "As in, the plan that becomes obsolete the moment the real plan works out?"

Crowley gave the mouthy angel a completely unimpressed look. Of course, the king of the crossroads -not in office at the moment- was well aware of plans, backup plans, backup plans for backup plans and the like. He obviously knew more about these things than the British angel too, because Crowley was also well aware of the fact that you still needed the backup plan ready to go in case the number one plan hadn't worked out.

"Besides, it's not like we need a reason to gank those sons of bitches," Dean snorted. The older Winchester would not give the demon the satisfaction of knowing he had something they needed or wanted, if he had to -kind of- side with Balthazar that was the slightly lesser of two evils.

"Actually, Dean-o's right there. No reason needed, if the opportunity arises," Gabriel let his voice trail off, before he added, "Name your price Crowles, but keep in mind that this is more of a matter of principle than need for us."

Crowley resisted the urge to smile victoriously. The archangel could try to play it cool all he wanted, he was still all too obviously interested in what Crowley had to offer. What the demon didn't know -and didn't have to know- were the reasons why the archangel was seriously considering buying the information from the demon, if the price wasn't completely unreasonable. Gabriel realized he needed to find something to distract the greater part of the team with. All of them would be waiting for the archangel to work the spell now they had all the ingredients together, unless they were very busy with something else.

"Very well then, I'll make it short," Crowley replied in fake submission, "Management in hell is going to change shortly and I'm overdue for a promotion."

Even though it sounded like Balthazar would have to find a way of weaseling out of a meeting with Death soon, the British angel couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. The demon had style, he had to give him that. It was too bad that none of the others seemed to share Balthazar's opinion on the matter. Typical.

"If you think we will lift a finger to..." Castiel spoke up in an unexpectedly heated tone. Everything in the blue-eyed seraph bristled at the thought of fighting any battles for a demon. Castiel allowed his superiors in heaven to use him before he learned about free will. It was an experience he vowed never to repeat. Castiel sure as hell wasn't going to allow some overly ambitious demon to use him now!

"Au contraire little trespasser, I expect your formal agreement not to lift a finger," Crowley explained, slowing his speech down so the angels could follow him, "A nonaggression pact, if you will."

The demon was confident he didn't need any help to seize power and control once Lucifer was gone. Crowley had enough time and little to do other than plot since he went into hiding. Most demons were stupid sheep and all the former best shepherds were gone -thanks to the denim clad nightmares that were the Winchesters- so it shouldn't be hard gaining enough followers to take over. Not for someone as charismatic and gifted as Crowley anyway.

"What exactly would that entail?" Sam asked, earning him a nasty glare from his older brother. To the older Winchester, the only acceptable reaction to a demon proposing a deal was to send them to hell, metaphorically or -preferably- literally. Gabriel's willingness to open negotiations was bad enough, but Sam showing any kind of interest was inacceptable.

"I am not talking to you, moose," Crowley replied, giving Gabriel a pointed look, "This only concerns heaven and hell, things on Earth stay as they are. Though I could be convinced to throw in a memo to my future subjects to steer clear of all things Winchester. So long as you don't come for them first."

Bobby and the Winchester brothers exchanged looks after hearing the entirety of the demon's offer. Granted, it sounded pretty good, but that only made them more suspicious. Of course, a peace treaty of sorts between heaven and hell was a big deal and putting a couple of hunters on the 'no kill' list was insignificant by comparison. Then again there had been enough high level demons that sure made it look like getting their hands on the Winchesters was their number one priority. Chances were that priorities were going to change dramatically once Michael and Lucifer were out of the picture though.

"Doesn't sound half bad to me," Gabriel shrugged. The archangel was willing to take the lack of outraged cries from the people around him as their agreement. If the demon wanted Gabriel's formal agreement to never invade hell with a heavenly army, the archangel had no problems giving it to him in exchange for having less demons just waiting to get a piece of the Winchesters. Gabriel wasn't going to mention how flawed Crowley's logic was when the demon assumed the archangel's plan included him taking control of heaven. Even in his bad mood, Gabriel saw the irony in the fact that this time around the details of a deal were going to backfire on the crossroads demon.

"I'd offer a kiss to seal the deal, but I don't fancy having a jealous giraffe on my back."

The contract Crowley pulled out of his jack was so long the one end rolled out of the living room before it was completely unraveled. Gabriel groaned, this would clearly take a while.

 

* * *

 

 

"What a day, huh?" Gabriel asked in a fake upbeat tone once Sam closed the door to Bobby's spare bedroom behind them, "Making a binding contract with Crowley was just the cherry on top, too."

The archangel hadn't been able to find any kind of trickery in the contract -which was nearly disappointing- but just to make sure, he handed it over to Castiel for a second opinion. His little brother's way of thinking was so different to Gabriel's that it wasn't unreasonable to assume Castiel's focus would be on other things than the archangel's, thus he might see something Gabriel missed.

It was late in the evening before Crowley departed with the signed contract - a political agreement not an actual deal as the angels assured the humans, not that Dean approved any more because of it- and Sam finally got the chance to simply grab Gabriel and get some time just between the two of them. They had less than a day before they had to face Death, but that should give them plenty of time for some sharing and caring.

"Gabe, stop it," Sam replied in a firm, but gentle tone, "It's okay now."

The younger Winchester stepped closer to the archangel until he could reach out and wrap his arms around him. Sam noticed hours ago that Gabriel was using his more trickster-like persona to hide what was really going on inside of him, but they weren't given the chance to talk about it before. The younger Winchester could still feel an echo from what little of his inner turmoil Gabriel had accidentally let come through their bond. They really had to deal with that, but first the archangel had to let his walls down again.

"Just you and me," Sam added in a soft tone, leaning his head against the archangel's, "Let it go."

The younger Winchester wasn't completely sure if it would even work, but he tried to push the connection between them open wide, letting Gabriel feel everything from his worries over the archangel's behavior to how good it felt to finally hold the man he loved. The archangel tensed noticeably for a moment, before he sighed deeply and relaxed.

"It's been a bad day," Gabriel mumbled, screwing his eyes shut as he allowed himself to simply hold on to Sam. The younger Winchester was back where he belonged. Warm, alive and as save as he'd ever be. That was what counted in the end.

"You know, I'd call that an understatement," Sam huffed out a chuckle, "But we've got everything we need for your plan A and know where to get the final piece for plan B, so at least it's a successful bad day."

"Since when are you the optimist here?" Gabriel asked, with a crooked smile that was clearly more heartfelt than any of the smiles Sam had seen from the archangel all day long.

"I blame your good influence for that," the younger Winchester shrugged lightly, cupping the archangel's cheek as he leaned in for a kiss. Sam regretted having to pull back only after much too short of a time, but he couldn't allow himself to get carried away when they still had things to talk about.

"About those consequences," the younger Winchester cleared his throat awkwardly, "Look, maybe we should focus on plan B more."

"No, just... no, Sam," Gabriel groaned, trying to give his voice a no-nonsense, 'archangel has spoken, end of topic' note. In the end though, the archangel's tone came out much more desperate than anything else. Plan B was for when plan A failed and Gabriel wasn't there to come up with a different plan A. Plan B was for... Plan B was only for distracting the Winchesters while plan A was being set into motion, but Gabriel couldn't tell Sam that.

"Why not?" Sam asked, trying and failing to get his partner to look him in the eyes, "Gabriel, what are you...?"

The younger Winchester knew plan B was highly risky, because they had to get very close to Lucifer for it to work. Of course, working a spell from a safe distance was much better... in theory. There had to be a reason why God personally was all but warning them not to go through with it.

"You think I don't know how your brain works? If we open the cage, we need to get Lucifer inside and he sure as hell won't jump by himself," Gabriel interrupted, finally raising his head to look at Sam. Golden eyes met green, as the archangel waited for the younger Winchester's response.

"I don't..." the younger Winchester started, before he sighed and stopped himself from telling a lie he'd regret sooner rather than later. Gabriel would look right through him anyway. There was no use pretending Sam hadn't considered saying yes to Lucifer to fight him from the inside and get him to jump back into his cage that way. However, the younger Winchester knew very well he couldn't go for that unless they were completely out of options. "It's just one option that crossed my mind. We can come up with something different!"

"We already have another plan, a preferable one," Gabriel insisted, before he added reasonably, "Besides, we'd still have Michael on our asses and believe me, we don't want that."

There were two key-players in the Apocalypse and they both seemed hell-bent on going through with it. Removing only Lucifer would earn them Michael's wrath for sure. Granted, Michael alone probably wouldn't destroy half the world in anger, but he might very well level -let's say- Sioux Falls with all of them inside. Even if they managed to escape, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t keep searching until he did finally manage to flatten them.

"You've been acting strange ever since we came back," Sam said cautiously. He didn't want to throw accusations around, but the younger Winchester needed to get to the bottom of this. Sam tightened his grip on Gabriel, keeping the archangel close as a sign he wasn't looking for an argument, but was only worried.

"Do you have an idea what it does to me to lose you?" Gabriel asked, honest pain and fear resonating in his voice as he brushed some stray hair out of Sam's face, "Sam, I... you want to know why plan B with your idea for getting Lucifer back into his box is absolutely not an option?"

The younger Winchester looked taken aback. Of course he wanted to know, but the archangel made it sound as if he really didn't want to know.

"I'd tear the world apart to get you back," Gabriel stated strangely matter-of-fact, even though he looked like it pained him to admit. The archangel knew Sam was aware of the fact his boyfriend wasn't human. Gabriel never made a point to hide his angelic nature around the younger Winchester. Sam had never seen Gabriel's truly destructive nature, though. Compared to an archangel's rage, the trickster's little games -even the ones that hurt Sam deeply- were nothing. Gabriel got a taste of how easy it would be to lose himself in punishment and revenge when he confronted Walt and Roy. If Sam was gone for good, trapped in the cage with Lucifer, there was nothing to stop Gabriel from going off the rails completely.

Not to mention Gabriel was determined to go through with his original plan for other reasons, like the aforementioned fact that Lucifer wasn't their only problem.

"Gabe," Sam replied in a conflicted tone, like he didn't know whether to laugh or take the archangel very seriously. The younger Winchester couldn't imagine Gabriel -his archangel- ever going dark side the way Gabriel obviously thought he could.

"I would!" Gabriel insisted, before he sighed and forced a small smile at the irony, "Kinda defies the purpose of stopping the Apocalypse, doesn't it?"

Sam inhaled deeply and rubbed his chin to stall for a few moments. What did you say to a confession like that? In the end, the younger Winchester decided to go with non-verbal communication as he pulled Gabriel into a reassuring hug. They would go after Death and try to acquire his ring, they could still discuss the details of whatever plan they would go with after that was over and done with. The archangel obviously wasn't in the right mindset for a talk over that as things were.

"I'm not a good person, Sam," Gabriel mumbled against the younger Winchester's neck, "You're the only reason for me to be better than Michael or Lucifer."

"That's a load of crap," Sam stated energetically, pushing at Gabriel's shoulders to get just enough space between them to make it possible to establish eye-contact, "You've done a lot of great things for me, but don't try to pretend it's all about me. You care for your brothers, for my brothers, for the whole team and I really think you care about the whole world. I don't know why you can't see it, but you are a good guy with or without me."

Gabriel looked baffled, as he blinked a couple of times trying to take in everything Sam said. The archangel never knew how hard it could be to hear a loved one saying nice things, when you were in the middle of a self-hate, pity party.

"I don't know if you've missed the memo Sam, but I've been on the side of always chaotic evil until recently," Gabriel chuckled, though his smile was a little strained. The archangel couldn't say Sam was wrong. Somehow Gabriel started to care about all those people. Sure, he didn't love all of them on the same level or with the same intensity, but he still loved them and would do whatever it took to protect them.

"Your version of evil involved a whole lot of just desserts and misguided attempts at preventing a horrible future," Sam pointed out, smiling at Gabriel before he added, "I love you, Gabe. Not for who I make you, but for who you really are."

Gabriel's smile was heartfelt when he leaned in to press his lips against Sam's. "How do you see all those things in me?"

"Don't know," Sam admitted, "How do you see them in me?"


	45. Chapter 45

**44**

 

Sam sighed as he reached for the coffee powder. It was time like these -at five in the morning, with too much on his mind- that the younger Winchester missed Tarot. The angel always had a cup of coffee ready for them. It also would have been nice to have Adam around, to hear his younger brother's thoughts on everything going on.

Sam still thought Gabriel was hiding something from them, but he trusted the archangel with both his heart and soul. Whatever it was, Gabriel would tell them when the time for them to know came. As close as the two were, there was nothing they couldn't talk about and the archangel knew it. At least, the younger Winchester tried to make himself believe all of that as he watched the coffee run through the filter.

They were going to face Death in only a couple of hours. They had to somehow convince the Grim Reaper to give them his ring, or at the very least to not destroy Chicago. Everything else had to take a backseat to that for the moment.

Then again, there was something important Sam could get done before they had to leave and the one person he needed to go through with it had just entered the kitchen. The younger Winchester got two mugs and offered the second to his older brother. Dean looked like he could use the caffeine just as much as Sam.

"Do you remember when I was just a baby and mom read us bedtime stories?" the younger Winchester asked with a fond smile, once they were both seated at Bobby's kitchen table, "She'd put me in your arms, get a book out and read until I fell asleep."

Their meeting with Death wasn't supposed to get any of them on the fast lane back to heaven, but thinking of death as much as Sam was, it was inevitable to think of certain things that happened during their last visit. The younger Winchester didn't think his brother was still mad at him for what he had seen, but Sam wasn't going to take any chances. This was one issue he was unwilling to leave hanging between them.

"Uh, yeah, I remember," Dean frowned, taking a sip of his coffee before he added, "The real question is, how do you know about that?"

The older Winchester had to admit there were a lot of things he -vaguely- remembered about their mother that he never shared with Sam. It wasn't that Dean didn't want his baby brother to know these things. It was more because thinking of the little time they had with their mom hurt like hell. Even Sam's innocent statement made Dean feel like he was being stung directly in the heart.

"Gabriel," Sam shrugged. After the talk the two brothers had about the amulet around the younger Winchester's neck, Sam wasn't quite as worried Dean would blow up on him anymore.

"Of course," Dean replied with a snort. It sure seemed like whatever was going on in their lives lately, the archangel had his hands in it somehow. The older Winchester had to say that nothing bad came of it this far, but he was growing tired of the whole world revolving around Gabriel.

"Gabriel enabled me to access whatever was left of my earliest childhood memories," Sam elaborated with a crooked smile, "So I could have my own memories of mom."

"That was awfully nice of him," Dean replied, clearing his throat. It was a decision between being happy for Sam or getting annoyed over the general principle of Gabriel influencing his younger brother's mind. The look on Sam's face sealed the deal for Dean. It was a good thing his little brother had his own memories of their mother now and the older Winchester wasn't going to pretend it wasn't.

"The thing is, most of the stuff I can remember is hazy around the edges and doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Sam added with a shrug. The younger Winchester still didn't know what the blue thing that kept popping up was. He could only assume it was some kind of toy. There were very few clear pictures of their father and even fewer of other people, but the most important part -the reason why Sam told Dean about all of this- was what he planned to reveal next.

"Dude, you were like six months old. All you did all day was sleep, eat and poop," Dean grinned, "It's a miracle you remember anything other than that."

"Only the important things. Like mom," Sam stated without missing a beat, "And you."

A great part of the younger Winchester's newly uncovered memories revolved around Dean in fact; not only those from the time after their mother was gone, either. Dean had always been there to hold Sam, talk to him, feed him... The younger Winchester couldn't make sense of all the impressions that made it into baby Sammy's long term memory, but he knew for sure that Dean was a positive figure and one of the two -if not the- most important ones.

"Look, Dean, I don't know why you weren't in my heaven up there," Sam sighed deeply, before he patted the place on his chest right over his heart, "But you're always in here."

The brothers looked at each other without saying a word for a few long moments. The older Winchester made a few aborted head movements, clearing his throat noisily. They just had a grade A chick flick moment and Dean honestly felt touched. He didn't know how to appropriately express it, though. What Dean settled for in the end was, " One of these days, calling you a gigantic girl isn't going to cut it anymore, Sammy."

"Does that mean you're going to stop doing it?" Sam retorted with a grin.

"Never!"

 

* * *

 

 

Three hunters and two angels stood in Bobby's living room, checking their gear. The oldest of the hunters couldn't help thinking that bringing weapons to what was supposed to be a peaceful talk might be a bad idea, but Bobby couldn't bring himself to go in unarmed any more than the Winchesters could. There was nothing in their -or Balthazar and Castiel's- possession that could hurt an entity like Death, but they didn't know what else they might find in Chicago. A great storm was brewing -both literally and metaphorically- and things like that tended to be a magnet for all things evil.

"Bad news," Gabriel announced with an annoyed groan, as he appeared in Bobby's living room, "Metatron..."

"That really is bad news," Balthazar interrupted the archangel, distaste clearly to be read from the angel's face. The British angel might be an opportunist and a little too fond of most things sinful, but at least he wasn't a cowardly traitor and deserter. Admittedly, most of heaven would think differently about that, but Balthazar only left the sinking ship for something more promising for everyone.

"Metatron apparently found some additional information in an ancient scroll," Gabriel went on talking, ignoring his little brother's antics, "He wants to meet up ASAP."

Sam frowned deeply. Metatron had really bad timing. The younger Winchester wasn't sure what to make of the angel's sudden discovery of additional information. It could mean anything from Metatron only wanting to help -unlikely however, judged from the reactions Castiel and Balthazar gave whenever their brother's name came up- to a trap, really.

"So?" Dean prompted. If Gabriel expected them to throw all plans overboard, he'd better say it clearly so the older Winchester could give him a piece of his mind. They made a deal with Crowley just to learn where they could find Death and it cost them. Granted, it wasn't Dean who had to pay the price, but it was already going against everything the older Winchester believed in to make a deal with a demon, again. Like hell was he going to let a good part of the benefit of the contract go to waste while Crowley got everything he wanted out of it!

"So, we'll have to postpone ..." Gabriel answered in his best 'archangel has spoken' voice, mostly because he knew exactly what kind of reaction it would cause in Dean. Truth be told, the archangel wanted the hunters to go after Death. Hell, he needed them to go through with the plan, but telling them that would only make them suspicious.

"Hell no!" Dean exclaimed, gearing up for an argument with the archangel, "We made a contract with Crowley over this! Death won't be in Chicago forever and I really don't want to know what the slimy bastard's going to demand, if we need him for information again."

"Gabriel, Chicago is going to be wiped off the map, if we don't..." Sam added, before his partner interrupted him. The younger Winchester had to at least try and somehow convince Death to leave Chicago be. They could only hope Lucifer hadn't ordered the immediate destruction of the city or that Death could give them some time to sever the bond between him and Lucifer, but it was a chance they had to take.

"I won't let you guys go alone!" Gabriel protested. It was one of the hardest things the archangel had done lately to deceive his friends, family and especially Sam like he had to that moment, but it was all for the greater good. Gabriel could only hope the others were going to see it like this someday, too.

"Tough luck, we've been hunting long before you came along. If you think you've got to go have a chat with Metatron, we'll go face Death in the meantime," Dean huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. It had been Gabriel who insisted talking to Death wasn't a kamikaze mission. Apparently the guy could be reasoned with as long as everybody stayed respectful and there was something deep-fried on the table at all times. If the archangel thought they couldn't do it without him, he was wrong and Dean would gladly prove it to him!

"It may not be wise to search out Metatron by yourself," Castiel spoke up, drawing attention to the other side of the medallion. If all of them went to talk to Death, Gabriel had to go to Metatron –to probably walk into a trap- by himself.

"You know, Cassy's right," Balthazar agreed with his dark-haired brother, "Tron always had a beef with the archangels and he's going to expect you this time around. Plus, have I mentioned how he's definitely bad news?"

It was highly suspicious Metatron had something to add to the plan after months of no contact. Gabriel might be the more powerful being by far, but that didn't guarantee he'd come out on top when the other party had access to the kind of divine knowledge Metatron had. Not that Balthazar necessarily preferred meeting Metatron over having a nice chat with Death, but he would take one for the team and volunteer to pass up the chance of coming face to face with the Grim Reaper. The British angel hadn't even opened his mouth, before his brother spoke again.

"I must agree, Balthazar," Castiel nodded gravely, "I will accompany Gabriel, while you go to Chicago."

It was by no means easy for Castiel to lie and deceive, but necessity forced him to put everything he had into the ploy Gabriel came up with. The dark-haired seraph was not fully convinced they were doing the right thing, but early on he swore to assist Gabriel to the end and he would keep his word.

"Wait, what?" Balthazar asked, staring at Castiel in open disbelief. The British angel knew his trench coat-clad brother had a different understanding of a lot of things, but Castiel had to see why teaming Balthazar up with the Winchesters was a bad idea! Gabriel was somebody the British angel could work with, Dean was somebody he could get into snark battles of epic proportions with.

"Woah, what? We're not taking McDouchebag to see Death!" Dean protested at the same time as Balthazar, "He's going to get us all killed with some stupid comment!"

The last thing they needed was for somebody to criticize Death's style, taste in food or whatever else Balthazar could take offense at. Dean wasn't going to get killed because the douchebag angel insisted that fast food was beneath him! More importantly, the older Winchester wouldn't allow his younger brother or their father figure to get killed over something like that! How the hell could Gabriel not protest against that anyway? Dean would've thought the archangel would have a great interest in making sure nothing happened to Sam. For that matter, how could Castiel do this to Dean?

"Dean, it means a lot to me to know you have angelic protection should you need it," the dark-haired angel stated in a grave tone, giving the older Winchester one of the soulful stares he only ever shared with Dean, "I am sure Balthazar has no interest upsetting Death in any way."

Castiel was sure Balthazar would do whatever he could to keep the hunters safe, no matter what the British angel might say. The dark-haired seraph would have never agreed to Gabriel's plan, if it included leaving the Winchesters and Bobby unprotected or with insufficient protection, even if it went against the promise he gave Gabriel.

"I have no interest in meeting the guy!" Balthazar exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air showily. Big gestures were needed to catch even the slightest bit of Castiel's attention, when his dark-haired brother was focused on his Winchester.

"Look Balthy, Castiel's the better tactician, skills that will be useful against someone like Metatron, if things turn sour. Those skills would be completely wasted against a being that makes even me look like a shrimp," Gabriel insisted, before he patted Balthazar's shoulder and added, "Your special talent for cranking the charm up to eleven, especially when the intactness of your own skin depends on it, on the other hand is something I'm sure Death will appreciate."

Dean and Balthazar groaned nearly at the same time. The older Winchester was willing to accept that they had to make do with the douchebag angel on the mission, if it meant that much to Castiel. However, Dean had every intention of forbidding Balthazar from as much as opening his mouth once they got anywhere near Death. The older Winchester had yet to see any kind of evidence that Balthazar could be anything other than a huge pain in the ass!

"Furthermore it would..." Castiel started, turning his head to look at his brother. The dark-haired seraph didn't even have to finish his statement for Balthazar to know exactly what he was getting at. That right there was why they were good friends and why Castiel trusted his blonde brother. Balthazar might come across as arrogant and aloof, but he was perceptive and loyal when it counted.

"Mean a lot to you," Balthazar finished Castiel's statement for him with a groan, "You owe me one!"

Actually, the British angel couldn't imagine how Castiel could possibly pay him back for taking on another horseman basically on his own, but at least he could be sure his dark-haired brother would try. Maybe Castiel could get Gabriel to appoint Balthazar the guardian angel of all strippers once they threw Michael out of heaven. That would be an appropriate reward.

"We'll meet back here when we hopefully have the ring and you've got new information," Bobby stated in a definite tone. They had lost enough time with discussions over matters that were settled already. From the moment the archangel first spoke, it was clear there was only one way this could go. They had two places to be and there were enough people to split up safely.

"Be careful," Gabriel whispered, putting his palm against the back of his partner's neck and pulling Sam into a short, but sweet kiss.

"Why do I feel like I should tell you that?" Sam told Gabriel, forcing a small, but worried smile. The younger Winchester couldn't shake the bad feeling the entire situation gave him, but there was nothing he could do other than trust Gabriel knew what he was doing. At least the archangel had Castiel with him.

"'Cause you love me," Gabriel replied with a grin, before he added more tenderly, "And I love you."

The archangel gave the tall human a smile before he and Castiel disappeared. If it was the last thing Gabriel ever said to Sam, he had nothing to regret in that regard.


	46. Chapter 46

**45**

 

In a way, everything started in Broward County, Florida.

It wasn't the first time Gabriel met the Winchesters, but it was the first time he went after them for a cause. The first time around in Springfield, it was a matter of the trickster catching the attention of a couple of hunters and distracting them from the case until he decided how to go about the situation. Looking back at the first incident, Gabriel had to say he started to like the boys even back then. Not that he'd have lifted a finger to help them out with anything, but he liked their style.

It was at Broward County things turned personal. It was there that Gabriel failed to make his point in a way Sam understood. It was there the trickster committed acts that still weighed on Gabriel's conscience, even though he had been forgiven by the very hunter he tormented,the one person who mattered the most.

In retrospect, it was also there that Gabriel should have stepped up and ended the whole thing before it started. He could have marked Dean's soul for heaven, overriding his demon deal. He could have killed Lilith before she broke enough seals for her death to count as anything more than a demon bitch biting the dust.

It seemed fitting that the Apocalypse would end in the place it should have originally been prevented, if only Gabriel could have brought himself to step up them.

"We got everything?" the archangel asked his dark-haired brother, shaking his head to free himself from considerations of the past. It was the here and now that counted.

"Yes," Castiel simply replied, with a tight nod. Gabriel had taken the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone and the fruit from the Tree of Life from Bobby's house and replaced them with fake versions just in case anybody went to check if they were still there before they went after Death. It really wouldn't do to have their plan foiled at the last possible moment just because one of the hunters had a sudden urge to look at one of the artifacts again.

"Okay, there's a couple things I wanted to tell you, before..." Gabriel's voice trailed off with a crooked smile, before he started listing what little advice he could still give his brother, "Keep an eye on Metatron, like a close eye. I've got a bad feeling about him."

Metatron would get his revenge on the archangels without having to lift a finger for it, but Gabriel doubted his brother would be satisfied with that for long. The scribe had a lot of knowledge -and thus, power- in his hands. The archangel wouldn't advise Castiel to get rid of Metatron, but close surveillance was needed at the very least.

"Speaking of bad feelings, keep an eye out for Naomi too," Gabriel added seriously, distaste clear in his tone and expression, "Keep her firmly under your thumb, with all means necessary. I mean it."

The archangel had very little doubt against their ambitious sister making a move for the top the moment Michael was gone. Hell, if she hadn't completely changed since Gabriel last saw her, he'd have thought she was running heaven behind the scenes already. If Castiel wanted things to change for their brothers and sisters, he had to make sure to have a tight grip on Naomi and her goons.

"Don't let it get to your head, Cassy," Gabriel went on, putting a hand on Castiel's shoulder as he gave his little brother a smile, "You're a great guy, an angel I'm proud to call my brother. Don't let the power change you and always listen to Dean and Balthazar. They're airheads for sure, but they have your best interests at heart."

If everything went according to plan, Castiel would take over heaven. Gabriel had given the blue-eyed seraph strategic pointers weeks ago. Hopefully they could prevent heaven from going down in chaos. Gabriel didn't want the picture he painted the Winchesters about what heaven would be like once Michael was gone to become reality. Even after everything, it was still his home. Castiel would be a good leader, a leader who wanted the others to learn to think for themselves. Gabriel had no doubt his little brother would go about everything with the best intentions, but sometimes that wasn't enough. As long as Castiel had the support network he had right now and didn't suddenly close himself off from them, everything would be fine.

"Tell Sam..." Gabriel added after a few long moments of silence, "If this goes wrong, or right just not... you know."

The archangel felt like there should be a message for Sam, but he couldn't come up with the right thing to say. What did you tell the man you loved and who loved you when you left him? Gabriel knew the younger Winchester would be hurt deeply and there was nothing he could do to help that.

"Tell Sam, I did it for myself. Only for myself. It's my shot at doing the right thing, just finally being a decent person," Gabriel finally stated with a deep sigh, "He knows everything else that's important."

Maybe the archangel could do something against the guilt Sam would surely feel at least. Gabriel knew his partner wasn't exactly egocentric, but he sure tended to take the blame for just about everything bad happening, even that which only had a vague connection to him. It wasn't a stretch to believe Sam would think Gabriel's sacrifice was because of him, to keep Sam safe and away from Lucifer. While that played a definite part -there was no use denying it- the reasoning Gabriel gave Castiel was honest.

"Are you certain this is the right way, brother?" the dark-haired seraph asked in a nearly gentle, but heavily concerned tone. Castiel agreed to see this through with Gabriel, because the archangel couldn't do it alone. The seraph intended to stand behind his word, but not if Gabriel had second thoughts. They could still change the plan.

"Dead certain," Gabriel replied seriously, holding his angel blade out for Castiel to take. The archangel took a deep breath before he lifted his eyes to look back at his brother. The mischievous smirk wasn't heartfelt, but Gabriel needed a bit of Loki to get him through this. "Try to get a good stab in, I really don't want to do this over."

"I will heal you as soon as it is done," Castiel promised, taking the blade his brother offered. The Fruit and the Stone were set up in the Grail, all that was missing was the last ingredient.

"I trust you will."

 

* * *

 

 

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Chuck yelled in frustration, banging the cabinet door shut with enough force to make the tins and packages inside audibly rattle. The prophet knew Adam was keeping some alcohol hidden around the house, he just had to find it! Speak of the devil...

"Chuck?" Adam asked cautiously, "What are you doing?"

Luckily Tarot was in his room, tinkering with a bunch of clocks and listening to some music on the mp3 player Adam got for him. As it turned out, the angel really liked show tunes, even though he hadn't shown any signs of wanting to sing any yet. Adam still chuckled every time he thought of the day they found out Terry was a fan of the _Beauty and the Beast_ musical. The point was, the seraph probably didn't hear -or had an easy enough time ignoring- the commotion Chuck was causing, so the only one upset person Adam had to deal with was the prophet himself.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Chuck snapped, opening the next cupboard and rummaging through it. The prophet wasn't sure why Adam would possibly hide a bottle in the same place they stored their glasses, but Chuck never really knew what the youngest Winchester was thinking.

"Right," Adam replied, stretching the word for all it was worth before he added softly, "C'mon dude, you've been doing so good..."

The prophet had been sober -but on a nearly constant supply of coffee- for over a week, he couldn't simply throw that away! Of course, technically he could, but Adam had to at least double check Chuck wasn't making a spur of the moment decision he was going to regret very soon.

"Good? You call this good?" Chuck exclaimed, clearly sounding hysterical as he gestured around wildly, "Nothing is good about this!"

Adam took a step back and away from the prophet instinctively. He might have a couple of inches on Chuck, but the way the prophet was haphazardly gesturing around, it wasn't impossible to be hit hard on accident.

"Woah," Adam cleared his throat awkwardly, before he attempted to speak to the irritated prophet again, "Okay, I know we're not exactly on good terms..."

The thing was, Adam and Chuck never got over exchanging platitudes and more or less avoiding each other. They were both playing nice for Tarot's sake, sitting down for dinners and making small talk every now and then, but Adam couldn't say he knew much more about the prophet now than he did before moving in with the guy.

"Do you even understand what it's like?" Chuck asked with a whine, whirling around to meet Adam's confused gaze. The youngest Winchester had always assumed the time for them to have a real conversation and hopefully make a connection would come eventually. It came off a bit surprisingly, but maybe that time was now.

"What, what is like? Being some sort of chosen one, with a destiny you can only try to get as far away from as possible? 'Cause I think I know a bit about that," Adam answered, trying to keep the snark out of his tone. Chuck was obviously upset, it wouldn't be good to add to that. The youngest Winchester wouldn't pretend he knew what it was like to be number one on heaven or hell's most wanted list -he'd only ever been second choice for everyone, though that worked in his favor in this case- but he thought he knew enough about others thinking they knew exactly what you were supposed to do and yanking your chain like a chained dog to get you to do as they please.

"At least you can run and hide from your so called destiny," Chuck sighed deeply, pushing the cupboard close again without so much force this time around, "I can only stop writing down what I see, but I'll still see it!"

The prophet wanted to write stories all his life, but he always thought he'd write children's books. Nice, fluffy stories with a morale attached that children could learn valuable lessons from. Maybe he'd have liked to write comedy. Chuck might not be the life and soul of the party most of the time, but he had a good sense of humor. He was sure he could spin tales and parodies that would have people in stitches from laughing so hard. Of course, Chuck simply had to get visions that filled his head with supernatural horrors instead. Sure, he didn't have to write about the things he saw, but the mental images only got a little more bearable as soon as he wrote about them.

"I'm sorry," Adam replied with a deep frown, "I didn't know."

The youngest Winchester didn't envy Chuck, he really didn't. For all Adam knew, the visions gave Chuck headaches and it figured that they had to be hard to bear sometimes. The youngest Winchester never before considered how Chuck was just as -if not more- cursed as he and his brothers.

"'Course you didn't," Chuck admitted, closing his eyes for a moment as he sighed again. The prophet looked tired, resigned and much older than he actually was that moment. "Now let me..."

"Here," Adam offered an unopened bottle of whiskey he grabbed out from one of the whole grain cereal packages to the prophet, "I mean if it helps... you just should've said so."

The youngest Winchester liked to think he was a reasonable person. If Chuck ever said anything about how alcohol helped him bear his visions, he wouldn't have made the prophet quit cold turkey. Hell, if Chuck had fought Adam's demand for him to sober up at all in the first place, they would've found another solution.

Chuck took the bottle from Adam's hands and opened it, taking a deep swig before he said breathlessly, "It doesn't... not really."

"Maybe you should try talking about it?" Adam suggested after a few seconds of silence.

"I can't," Chuck replied, sounding much too resigned with his fate for Adam's taste once more.

"You..." Adam started before something hit him. Back when Bobby gave Tarot the orders he shouldn't have, the angel tried to tell Adam that he couldn't talk, which the youngest Winchester misunderstood as he wouldn't. Maybe he should approach the issue from a different angle this time. "I'll go out on a limb and assume that doesn't mean you don't want to."

Chuck huffed out a bitter laugh, "If only."

"Okay, then talk," Adam stated with conviction, "I mean, what's the worst that could happen and is it really worse than keeping all this pent up inside?"

"I've seen what Gabriel is capable of," Chuck mumbled, slumping down in one of the chairs by their small kitchen table.

"Gabriel? Wait, did Gabriel tell you to keep your mouth shut?" Adam asked in an alarmed tone, before he frowned, "Or is it what you saw and that's what's bothering you?"

"I already said too much," Chuck moaned, hiding his face in his palms, "He's going to kill me."

"Yeah right, like Gabriel would," Adam snorted, before he put a comforting hand on the prophet's shoulder and added in a much softer tone, "Like we'd let him."

The youngest Winchester might not count Chuck as one of the people he was closest to, but if push came to shove, he'd do everything he could to protect the prophet. Chuck was a good guy, maybe not a good guy Adam had an easy time communicating with, but still a good guy. Besides, whatever threats Gabriel made and for whatever reason, the archangel wasn't going to harm the prophet in any way, Adam was sure of that.

"I don't... I just don't know... it's... complicated," Chuck replied, even though he was clearly still uncertain about saying anything at all, "And I don't know how it's going to end..."

"How what is going to end?"Adam asked, swallowing heavily. Whatever it was that got Chuck this upset seemed to be both really big and really bad news.

"Gabriel... he's... he might not... I don't know if he'll survive," Chuck struggled to explain, meeting Adam's eyes for a moment before he lowered his gaze to the bottle in front of him again.

The youngest Winchester's eyes widened in fear for a moment, before he forced himself to focus on the most important part of all this. If Chuck only just had the vision showing Gabriel might die, it hadn't happened yet. There probably was something they could still do about this. There had to be something!

Adam took a seat next to Chuck, making sure to look the prophet in the eyes. "Okay, I'm gonna need more information."


	47. Chapter 47

**46**

 

A storm brewed over Chicago. There were hardly any people on the streets and those who were, were obviously hurrying to find shelter. None of them knew that this time there wouldn't be sunshine after the rain. Not if Sam, Dean, Bobby and Balthazar couldn't find a way to talk Death out of destroying the city. At least that’s what team ‘get Death’s ring’ could only assume.

"Is it just me or did the weather suddenly get better?" Dean asked with a deep frown. An unexpected change of winds seemed to disperse the worst of the clouds, just after they first set foot in the city. The older Winchester had a hard time believing it was a coincidence.

"Maybe Death just wanted us to come here?" Sam suggested with unease apparent in his voice. It would have been nice to assume Death simply wanted to let them know where he was going to be so they could come find him and had no actual intention to destroy Chicago. It would have been nice, but Sam knew how unlikely that was.

"Or it's a trap," Dean pointed out, keeping a hand on his gun just in case. The last time Death had been involved, there were demons and hellhounds; it cost Ellen and Jo their lives. They weren't going to be unprepared this time!

"Keep up the optimism Dean, why don't you?" Balthazar asked with a huff. As far as the angel could tell, the countless reapers around were the only supernatural beings in their close vicinity. At least, it didn't look like a set up by Lucifer. There would be demons around in that case for sure. Not that it was any better if Death had set a trap for them.

Sam considered letting the call go to voicemail when his cell phone suddenly started to ring, but then decided to at least check the display. It might be something important. While Gabriel was much more likely to use the amulet and Castiel would probably call Dean if something was wrong, there were other people who might give Sam an emergency call he couldn't ignore even for an hour. Even if he couldn’t go right away, information could always save lives in their business

"Adam?" Sam asked in an alarmed tone. The younger Winchester immediately took the call when he saw it came from their youngest brother. Adam didn't call for nothing; that much was for sure. "What's...?"

It didn't ease Sam's nerves any that Adam's tone was obviously worried and that Chuck could be heard complaining weakly in the background. The younger Winchester was straining his ears to make out what the prophet was going on about until Adam spoke again, saying something that immediately made the hairs on the back of Sam's neck stand on edge. "What do you mean I've got to get to Gabriel?"

"I knew it, I just knew it," Balthazar exclaimed. The angel's expression was smug, but it wasn't heartfelt. "They were hiding something big!"

In all honesty, the British angel had been more worried about Castiel than Gabriel. Balthazar had to admit he might have misjudged the archangel's character severely, but he assumed if Gabriel was going to get anybody in trouble it would be Castiel, not himself. Then again, from what they had heard this far, Balthazar might still be right.

"Thanks for informing us then, douchebag!" Dean huffed, glaring at the stupid angel. The oldest Winchester always knew there was a reason he didn't like the blond angel. Balthazar hung out with the team, but he clearly wasn't really a part of the team.

Neither the hunter or the angel got a chance to argue any further before Sam shushed them, putting his phone on speaker. What Adam had to say clearly concerned them all, but the younger Winchester had the sinking feeling he wouldn't want to take the time to repeat it for the others later.

"Look, Gabriel didn't tell you everything about that spell," Adam explained what Chuck told him after much coaxing, "It needs an archangel's grace to work, like all of it. He's going to sacrifice himself."

Sam's face paled as his younger brother's words sunk in. Gabriel had been so insistent that Sam shouldn't even think of sacrificing himself for the greater good, but it never occurred to the younger Winchester that the archangel might be planning exactly that. Sure, Gabriel had done everything he could for him in the past months, but the archangel didn't seem the type... only, thinking back, lately he did. How could Sam not have seen it earlier?

"Wow, I mean I knew big brother had it bad for you, but this? Wow," Balthazar commented unhelpfully, prompting nasty glares from both Dean and Bobby. The younger Winchester was far too trapped in his dark thoughts to fully realize what the British angel said regardless.

"Shut up!" Dean hissed at Balthazar, his hand wandering back to his gun in a clearly threatening motion. A bullet to the face couldn't kill the angel, but it would be uncomfortable for sure. The older Winchester wouldn't allow the douchebag to put any stupid thoughts into his younger brother's head. Thoughts like Gabriel doing all this for Sam and Sam alone.

"Where are they?" Bobby asked, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder. They could come back to Chicago later. It didn't look like the city was going to be destroyed any moment, it could wait an hour or two. If Death was annoyed with them for not showing up, chances were he'd stick around and still be there when they came back. If Death didn't care, they might have to find a different way of getting a hold of the horseman later. Either way, they had to keep two of their team members from doing something epically stupid. Hell, those two pigeons were family and family always came first.

"Chuck doesn't know," Adam replied with a sigh, "Some abandoned building, he didn't see anything that'd give away the town or even the state."

The younger Winchester closed his fingers around his amulet. He had a way to contact the archangel, a way Gabriel hopefully couldn't and wouldn't ignore. However, as soon as Sam opened the connection between them, he was sure the archangel would know his plan had been discovered. The younger Winchester thought it was far more likely for Gabriel to hurry things along at that point and give them even less time to intervene, than to give up on his plan.

"Adam, that's not..." Sam started, before he closed his eyes for a moment and dejectedly mumbled, "How are we supposed to find them like this?"

Even if the two angels couldn't have been anywhere in the world theoretically, they had little time and no idea where to search for them. For all Sam knew, Chuck probably didn't get his visions that far in advance usually and Sam felt like he was sinking when there was no mention of anyone else there. They were losing time... time Gabriel probably didn't have.

"Can I say something now?" Balthazar asked with a slight smirk.

"No!" Dean snapped immediately. The older Winchester never stopped glaring at the angel. Balthazar could have saved them all from this, if he had opened his stupid mouth earlier. There was absolutely nothing the angel could possibly say now that Dean wanted to hear, except maybe for...

"I put a tracker on Cassy," Balthazar announced in a fake casual tone. Granted, they knew now Gabriel's plan was to sacrifice himself and not Castiel, but Balthazar didn't exactly want to lose his older brother either. Gabriel was the one good archangel left!

"You... what?" Sam asked, turning around to face the angel immediately.

"I put a tracker on Cassy," Balthazar repeated matter-of-factly, "I knew they were hiding something, so I made sure I could always find them."

Putting a tracking spell on Gabriel or anything in the archangel's possession wouldn't have gone unnoticed no matter how sneaky Balthazar was about it. Castiel on the other hand was on about the same power level as Balthazar, so it was a safe guess something that couldn't be detected by the British angel wouldn't catch his dark-haired brother's attention either. Balthazar only had to make sure it didn't raise any red flags for Gabriel from five feet away -it obviously didn't, he must have been too busy making doe eyes at the tree, since the British angel carried it around on his person for a while to test it- andthen he just had to put it on something Castiel always had with him. Thank Father for his brother's affinity for his trench coat!

"Well then, what are we waiting for?!" Bobby asked in a gruff tone.

"Good luck, guys," Adam said before he hung up. The youngest Winchester was tempted to add they'd better let him know how everything turned out, but Sam didn't need someone putting the thought 'it might be too late to save Gabriel' into his head. Besides, even if his older brothers forgot to let him know once again, chances were Chuck would see how things turned out.

Inside the pizzeria the hunters and the angel had been headed for before they changed their plans, a young waitress approached one of the tables with a bad feeling in her gut. The old man sitting by himself had been friendly and polite since he entered the restaurant, but something about him gave her the creeps anyway.

"I won't need those extra plates after all," Death stated nonchalantly, noticing how the young woman nodded and hurried to put distance between them again now that she knew what he wanted. Silly humans, like they had anything to fear of Death before their time came and like they could avoid him once it did.

 

* * *

 

 

Long before anybody other than Tarot gave a damn about tracking time, when all archangels were still in heaven and God only just announced his plans for humanity, Gabriel bowed before his father's throne. It wasn't like the youngest of the archangels to search for a talk with God without being called in, but there were so many questions brought up by the last message Gabriel delivered. The archangel had to have answers.

Gabriel understood that it wasn't his job to question the messages, but he couldn't help it sometimes. Michael, Lucifer and Raphael never showed any signs of being confused by His messages, but Gabriel wasn't quite so sure he always understood exactly what their father meant to say at times. The archangel followed his brothers' lead and went with their interpretation to avoid conflict most of the time, but sometimes the message simply was too important to allow for interpretations that might be incorrect.

"Father, I don't understand," Gabriel admitted, standing before God when his father gave the signal that the time to talk had come, "You laid your plans for humanity before us, but..."

The archangel took a deep breath, stalling as he tried to read his father's face. Questioning God's word could be seen as the worst possible form of disobedience, but Gabriel didn't mean to disobey. He wanted to understand.

"You've given them the power to dictate their own lives," the archangel went on when God only smiled at him benignly, "How... how is it possible for them to have free will when there are so many plans?"

God's word was the ultimate truth, what He said had and would to come to pass. Gabriel just couldn't understand how this could go together with giving any creature the ability to choose their own path freely. Of course, the archangel never understood how so many of his brothers and sisters could believe their own possibilities were so limited, when all of them were freely able -but unwilling- to do all kinds of things that displeased their father.

"You have to understand, Gabriel," God answered, still smiling, "There is only one thing set in stone. Everything that has a beginning, also has an end."

At the time, Gabriel didn't understand. His father's words started to make more and more sense over time, but of course the archangel only truly understood once he was facing his own likely end. Plans, no matter who made them, could be changed, postponed, abandoned, or re-interpreted. Only one thing was for certain, everything and everyone had to meet their end some day.

Gabriel didn't want to die and he had never thought he'd be one of those people to gladly die for a higher cause, but here he was.

"I will heal you as soon as it is done," Castiel promised, taking the blade his brother was holding out for him to take. They needed Gabriel's grace as a beacon to take the other archangels' powers away. The assembled artifacts as well as a variety of sigils would attract the archangel's grace to the Holy Grail as soon as it left his vessel. As the blue-eyed seraph understood it, Gabriel's grace -without most of its power- would return to his body the moment the other archangels fell. What Gabriel hadn't told his brother was that he sincerely hoped, but didn't believe this was how it was going to go. The spell was never exactly clear on that part.

"I trust you will," Gabriel replied with a shrug, patting his little brother's shoulder twice for good measure. Maybe it was unfair and selfish of the archangel to drag Castiel into this with him, but even though Gabriel was determined to go through with his plan he doubted he'd manage to stab himself. Standing there and letting it happen was one thing, actually brandishing the weapon that would go straight through his very being in just a minute was another entirely. How was he meant to hold a blade when he could hardly hold himself upright?

However, the most important reason for why Castiel was there was that Gabriel didn't want to die alone. It might be selfish, but he didn't want the last thing he saw to be an empty room. Growing old with Sam and someday dying of old age while Sam held his hand was never in the cards to begin with, but he could have one of his favorite brothers around. A perfect reminder why he was doing all this.

Castiel tightened his grip on the archangel's blade, steeling himself for the task at hand. He had given a promise and he would honor it. It had to be done. Before the seraph could make a move, the flutter of wings announced the arrival of another angel. Neither Castiel, nor Gabriel were sure if it was good or bad that the one disturbing them was Balthazar with the three hunters in tow. On the one hand, things were far less likely to turn violent than they would have with anybody else; on the other, Gabriel wanted to prevent exactly this from happening. Sam shouldn't have to bear witness to this, but if they didn't go through with it now there wouldn't be another chance later.

"Gabriel, no!" Sam exclaimed in a pleading tone, extending his arm toward the archangel as he approached carefully. Gabriel obviously was determined, but he could still change his mind. Sam could still make him change his mind.

"Cas!" Dean yelled, taking a few steps toward the two angels immediately. The older Winchester was pretty sure he stood no chance of unarming Castiel, but if he got close enough to establish real eye contact he hoped his angelic friend would listen to him.

"Do it!" Gabriel demanded, locking eyes with his little brother. The archangel felt more than heard the younger Winchester's anguished cry. Then there was only pain... and light.


	48. Chapter 48

**47**

 

Sam had to close his eyes against the sudden bright light filling the room. The younger Winchester knew the light was in fact Gabriel leaving his vessel -dying, as his mind supplied unhelpfully- as he stumbled blindly toward the place the archangel had been standing just a second ago.

Only a few moments passed before the hunters could open their eyes again. Gabriel's grace was still circling the Holy Grail, but Sam couldn't pay any attention to that. Instead, the younger Winchester saw every second of Castiel removing the blade from Gabriel's chest and touching two of his finger's to the archangel's forehead.

That moment Sam wasn't even sure how he felt about Castiel's involvement in all this, but he forcefully pushed the seraph away from Gabriel's now undamaged, yet lifeless body the moment he got close enough to pull the archangel into his arms. . Castiel didn’t even try to fight against him. Sam distantly heard Dean yell at the dark-haired angel for lying to them, not informing them of Gabriel's plans, not stopping...

The younger Winchester sunk to the floor, Gabriel's body still in his arms. The archangel looked like he was sleeping, his eyes closed, his features relaxed, but he wasn't breathing and his body was completely lax and lifeless. Sam brushed some hair out of Gabriel's face tenderly, before he closed his eyes and held the archangel even tighter against his chest. This couldn't be the end. Gabriel couldn't have left him! Sam could still feel the archangel's presence, he wasn't gone!

Gabriel's grace finally entered the Holy Grail, making the cup itself along with the fruit and stone inside it light up. Balthazar barely had enough time to wonder if that was everything, when the light suddenly expanded sending a shockwave through the building and even further for a split second, before it died down and vanished completely.

"No, no, no, no," Sam started to breathe heavily, his voice getting louder by the moment. The younger Winchester knew losing the connection between him and Gabriel would hurt. The archangel made that pretty clear in the two times it happened to him. Sam just never believed he would experience it for himself. The cold emptiness was overwhelming and all the younger Winchester could do was keep his tight grip on Gabriel's body and will the archangel not to leave him like this, like half of him had been forcibly ripped away only leaving jagged edges. The archangel was gone, Sam felt it with every fiber of his being, but he had to hold on.

"This was not supposed to happen," Castiel's face blanched noticeably. The dark-haired seraph looked helplessly between the artifacts on the table and his brother's lifeless form for a few long moments. This was not how the spell was supposed to end! Some of Gabriel's grace should have returned to his body! There wasn't even the slightest trace of archangel grace in the whole building.

"What did you think would happen?!" Dean snapped, glaring at his angelic friend. The older Winchester immediately regretted his rash reaction though, when he saw Castiel's equally lost and shocked expression. Then again, just a couple feet from them Sam's entire body was wracked by sobs as he held his dead lover. Something Castiel was jointly responsible for.

"A part of..." Castiel tried to explain, but lost track as he followed Dean's gaze toward Sam. The dark-haired angel was obviously upset and fighting for the right thing to say, but all that came out was, "Gabriel said..."

Dean sighed deeply. It made sense for Gabriel to have lied to Castiel as well as to the rest of them. It made sense that Castiel could be suckered into going along with the archangel's plan under false pretense. The older Winchester wouldn't forget the angel's betrayal anytime soon, but he couldn't help pitying Castiel at least a little. The seraph had been tricked into killing his own brother, after all.

"Looks like you were tricked by the Trickster," Dean sighed, rubbing his forehead for a moment before he put his hand on Castiel's shoulder.

 

* * *

 

 

Gabriel didn't know what he expected. Nothing, his mind supplied helpfully. He expected nothing when he decided to give up his life. Angels lived in heaven and didn't belong in hell or purgatory. What was left for them to go to after death?

Apparently the answer to that question was: a white room. A pure white room that looked like you could cross it in a couple of steps, yet somehow the walls always stayed at the exact same distance to the archangel no matter in which direction he went.

Gabriel huffed out a humorless chuckle. Whoever designed this would've made a great trickster. No, not whoever. Gabriel knew exactly who designed this and there probably was at least a little bit of trickster in Him, after all He made Gabriel and Gabriel had no trouble following that path.

"Impressive trick, even for your standards," God stated in a slightly amused, but definitely proud tone.

Gabriel whirled around to face his father. To tell the truth, the archangel would not have believed God had actually come out of hiding to talk to him, before he saw Him face to face.

" _Somebody_ had to," Gabriel replied in a cocky tone, before he gave his father a crooked smile and added in a small voice, "It's good to see you."

God smiled at his son, but didn't say anything. Gabriel had no trouble telling his father approved of what he had done anyway. God was radiating warmth and love. The archangel had seen his father angry, it was always easy to tell when that happened. Hell, when God was feeling less benevolent and more vengeful everyone in a thousand mile radius knew it.

"So, this is it for me? You know, angel afterlife is a little... dull," Gabriel commented with a half-hearted smirk after a moment of content silence, "It could use some..."

The joke died on Gabriel's lips as the realization of what he already missed the most sunk in. He could get used to the lack of everything that seemed to be the essence of this place. The archangel could give up all the fun things he had gotten used to on Earth. Granted, he didn't want to, but it was definitely possible. The sweets, the tricks, the sights, they didn’t matter. There was just one thing he could never get used to missing.

"Dad, I..." Gabriel started in a pleading tone before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "Please, just tell me Sam'll be okay."

In the end, that was what counted to the archangel. He could learn to live with the cold, empty feeling like something vitally important had been ripped away from him. Gabriel knew what he was getting into when he decided to give up his life and he was ready to suffer the consequences. Sam on the other hand... If God had it in Him to show Gabriel some mercy, He'd tell him that things would turn out okay for Sam.

"Don't worry."

 

* * *

 

 

"Do you hear them?" Balthazar asked, patting Castiel's back amicably as he nodded toward the ceiling. The British seraph usually tuned angel radio out, but the commotion upstairs was big enough that even he couldn't ignore it.

"It worked," Castiel replied tonelessly, "Michael and Raphael are gone."

The dark-haired angel found a little solace in knowing Gabriel hadn't died for nothing, but the victory left a sour taste in his mouth. The archangel's plan worked, but at what price? Castiel knew he and Balthazar had to go back to heaven soon. The dark-haired seraph had the scroll Gabriel gave him before they set everything for the spell up in his pocket, but how could he go and attempt to fix heaven when one of his charges was a broken man and the other could hardly look him in the eyes?

"Sam c'mon, we should..." Dean sighed, touching his younger brother's shoulder. The older Winchester didn't know what the standard protocol for the bodies of dead archangels was, but he couldn't stand to see Sam continue to clutch Gabriel's body like he truly believed the archangel wasn't gone until he let go. Dean understood, he really did, but his brother had to accept Gabriel was dead. Nothing good ever came out of any of them not letting go when they should.

"No, just let me... he'll come back," Sam mumbled, though his own words rung false in his ears. The younger Winchester could feel that Gabriel was gone clear as day. There was nothing on the other end of the connection. Everyone knew about Sam’s addict tendencies, but not even he realized how much he needed and painfully craved for the comfort in their shared connection until it was ripped away from him.

"He's gone and you know it, Sam," Dean stated, looking toward Bobby for a moment and when the old hunter nodded added in a softer tone, "Let go, Sammy."

"Shut up!" Sam yelled at his older brother. It took a few moments before the younger Winchester realized he was shaking and then a few more until it sunk in that it was from anger and grief. Sam took a few shuddering breaths. This was like losing Dean all over again. His older brother was right. Sam couldn't go down that road again. He couldn't make the same mistakes. He had to...

Sam's eyes were tearing up again as he leaned in to press his lips against Gabriel's forehead one last time. He couldn't bring himself to say good bye, but he had to let go.

The younger Winchester felt the little spark warming his heart just a moment before he heard the low hum and whispered, "Better than heaven, I should know."

"I'll be damned," Bobby muttered under his breath, as he watched the archangel try to sit up which Sam effectively prevented by refusing to loosen his grip on him even the slightest bit. The old hunter saw Dean's helpless and confused look, but could only shrug. Bobby didn't know any better what this sudden turn of events might mean for them than Dean did. At least the two angels present didn't look worried.

"Woah, careful, you're squeezing the life out of me," Gabriel wheezed, trying to get enough air into his lungs, which wasn't easy with a giant crushing his ribs. The archangel was prepared to take a few nasty words or maybe a slap for the stunt he pulled -and his flippant attitude- but instead, Sam only pulled back for a moment, allowing the archangel to take a deep breath before he crushed their lips together. That sort of punishment Gabriel could live with. In fact, he might ask for more.

"Gabriel, you..." Castiel's voice trailed off as he didn't know how to finish his statement. Gabriel was back, there was not the slightest trace of doubt it was Gabriel, but...

Apparently, Balthazar had the words to say what Castiel couldn't. "Nice... soul you've got there, brother."

 

* * *

 

 

Chuck awoke with a start, nearly falling off the couch as he sat up. The prophet faintly remembered wanting to work on one of his chapters. Apparently he had fallen asleep over it. There also was a familiar taste in his mouth, but one that didn't make any sense. Chuck blinked a couple of times before he groggily walked into the kitchen. He really needed some coffee.

The prophet never even managed to voice his wish for a cup of the lifesaver that was coffee before Tarot pushed a steaming mug into his hands. Chuck would never under any circumstances say that the angel wasn't nice to have around. The prophet wasn't quite sure how much of Tarot's behavior was his wish to be useful and how much was his obsession -not to say love affair- with their coffee machine, but Chuck appreciated the hell out of it anyway.

"Gabriel's okay now. Human, but okay," Adam told the prophet after giving him a couple of moments to savor his first mouthful of coffee.

Tarot nodded along with what Adam was saying. The angel had been in the room when Adam got the call from his brothers, so he knew what had been said. It was a great relief for Tarot to hear that his brother was alive. The part about Gabriel apparently being human -his grace having been replaced with a soul- came as a surprise, but Tarot failed to see anything bad in it. All the best people he knew were humans, after all.

"I know, I..." Chuck replied, gesturing toward his head. The visions he had never faded away or got hazy in the prophet's wakefulness like his dreams did. Not to mention Chuck didn't think he'd dream of most of the things that came up in his visions.

"Right," Adam stated, taking a second to collect his thoughts before he added, "Look, Chuck, I... I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Chuck asked as eloquently as he was able to that moment. The prophet was used to Adam making little sense to him, but this was definitely worse than usual. From all Chuck had seen of the younger man, Adam didn't apologize lightly. He had to think he had done something worth apologizing for. Chuck really didn't know what that could possibly be.

"Guess I... I didn't bother getting to know you before introducing you to my inner control freak," Adam chuckled awkwardly. The youngest Winchester couldn't honestly say he hadn't had a bit of an issue with his temper before he died and was brought back. He had grown up practically without a father and with a mother who loved him very much and tried to give him everything she could, but had to work her ass off just to get them through day to day. Adam always had to take care of himself and fight his own fights, maybe it had shaped him a little more than he thought.

"Uh..." Chuck stammered, looking everywhere but at Adam in his attempt to find something good to say in reply to that, "It's not... I mean... uh..."

"It's okay. You really opened my eyes earlier," Adam's laugh was more heartfelt that time. If he understood his brothers correctly earlier -and he made damn sure he understood exactly what they were saying- the Apocalypse was over. All their lives could return to normal, or whatever counted as normal for them. Adam wanted to start out his new life by righting a wrong he had done and then check out med schools in the area he could apply for. He could still make it for the fall semester.

"Earlier?" Chuck asked, clearly confused. The prophet took another swig of his coffee as he tried to figure out what Adam was talking about. Chuck couldn't honestly claim that his memory was never spotty, but the youngest Winchester's words didn't ring any kind of bells with him.

"Before you told me about Gabriel's plan," Adam elaborated when it became obvious Chuck didn't know what he was talking about. Granted, he left the prophet alone with a bottle of whiskey when Adam went to call his brothers, but when he came back to check on Chuck, the youngest Winchester found him asleep on the couch. So Adam covered the prophet's sleeping form with a blanket, before he picked up the bottle and put it back into the kitchen. The bottle was only missing about a quarter of its contents. Adam had a hard time believing Chuck could drink his memory away with that amount of alcohol.

"I didn't," the prophet claimed, looking even more confused. In all honesty, Chuck wanted to tell someone about his visions. They had become increasingly hard to bear, but Gabriel's threat still rung in his ears. Not to mention Chuck still assumed he wasn't exactly meant to interfere with what he saw. He was a spectator, not the show-runner.

"What?" Adam asked in a disbelieving tone, "Of course you did! We were sitting here and you were saying how hard it is to be a prophet and then you..."

"Adam, I swear a talk like that never happened between us!" Chuck insisted, interrupting the youngest Winchester. Actually, the one part missing from the prophet's vision was how the hell Adam knew to call Sam over Gabriel's plan. Apparently, the youngest Winchester thought he had the answer to that, but how was that possible?

Tarot looked between his two roommates with big eyes. The angel didn't think either one of them would lie, but their truths were mutually exclusive. If Adam talked to Chuck, but Chuck said that talk didn't happen... Apparently, the youngest Winchester shared Tarot's general train of thought.

"But then who...?"


	49. Chapter 49

**48**

 

Sam came close to knocking on the bathroom door and asking if everything was okay in there. Maybe he was overreacting... Scratch that, he was definitely overreacting, but Gabriel disappeared in there a whole fifteen minutes ago to take a shower and Sam was getting worried.

The younger Winchester sighed deeply and slumped down a bit more where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. They hadn't even left Broward County yet. Castiel brought Bobby back to Sioux Falls, but Dean insisted on the seraph transporting the Impala to them instead of the other way around, after everything that happened the Winchesters decided to stay for the night to let things settle. Sam suspected Dean didn't like the thought of being on the road with him and a newly humanized Gabriel while they hadn't had the change to get all the chick flick moments out.

The younger Winchester's considerations were interrupted when the bathroom door finally opened and Gabriel stepped outside. The former archangel's hair was still damp from the shower and even the smallest t-shirt Sam had found in his duffle bag still swallowed him. At least the sleep pants had draw strings, but Gabriel had to turn up the pant legs a couple times. Sam was briefly reminded of the times as a kid he would wear his brother’s clothes trying to mimic him before he was allowed to start training to hunt.

All in all, Gabriel had never before looked so small and breakable to Sam. He had never looked this human before and the younger Winchester wasn't sure how to take that on top of everything.

"Sam, I..." Gabriel stopped and sighed deeply. The smaller man stood only a couple feet away from Sam, but there might as well have been miles between them. Gabriel knew he hurt his partner deeply. He knew he'd be angry and disappointed himself if Sam had pulled the same shit with him. The only thing Gabriel could think to do now to make things better was to be completely honest. "Your family should've never been dragged into all this."

Sam closed his eyes, clasping his hands together. The younger Winchester knew Gabriel was trying to tell him something important, but Sam didn't even know if he wanted apologies. The archangel was alive -even if he was human now- and the Apocalypse was over, which was what they wanted from the start. Sam didn't think he was mad at Gabriel, not really, but he couldn't shake the hurt and empty feelings that took home in his heart when he saw and felt the archangel die.

"It was always about my family and our inability to sort things out between us," Gabriel added with a crooked smile when Sam didn't say anything, "And for the longest time I didn't care if somebody else would have to carry the can for us one day, but then..."

Sam finally lifted his eyes to meet Gabriel's gaze, but still couldn't bring himself to say anything. The younger Winchester didn't trust himself to say the right thing, when the way this conversation went would determine how they started into their new future. Sam didn't want to do this wrong. They couldn't do it wrong.

"You guys reminded me what it's like to really care for people and for a cause, I just wanted to keep you out of danger as much as possible," Gabriel admitted with a small smile. The problem was, the archangel hadn't only joined a team, he had found a new family and he couldn't bear the thought of losing any of them again. Something like the Apocalypse wasn't stopped without great sacrifice that much was for sure, but Gabriel decided early on that it had to be his and the other archangel’s sacrifice. His brothers had started the entire mess, long before even the earliest Winchester ancestor ever got involved, they had to pay for it.

"There is no keeping us out of things from now on, Gabriel," Sam finally stated seriously, before he added in a softer tone, "And no more making a difference between your family and mine."

The younger Winchester held his hand out for his partner to take and pulled Gabriel closer until the former archangel was standing between Sam's legs. Long arms wrapped around Gabriel's middle, making the shorter man smile. It took some moving around for the shorter man to straddle his partner's legs and bringing them face to face for a deep kiss.

"I thought... I thought you knew that you're a part of my family now," Sam said with a soft smile, running his fingers through Gabriel's still slightly damp hair which caused the former archangel to lean into the touch. Gabriel's smile brightened as he leaned in to kiss Sam deeply once what the younger Winchester said sunk in completely.

"I did the right thing," Gabriel mumbled a minute later, tangling his fingers in Sam's hair as they lay pressed up against each other on the king sized bed.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with a sigh. Green eyes met gold as the younger Winchester added, "Don't ever do that again."

 

* * *

 

 

Dean was standing in the motel's parking lot next to the Impala. It was weird to think that he'd have his own single bedroom that night, but he didn't want to share with Sam and Gabriel under any circumstances. It really was for everyone's best interests, as long as he managed to keep his mind far away from all things Sam and Gabriel might get up to at least. The older Winchester wouldn't have to time his porn watching with his brother's showers anymore, but those two lovebirds wouldn't have to refrain from doing anything because Dean was in the room either.

"We cannot delay our departure any longer," Castiel stated, bringing the older Winchester's focus back on him. The dark-haired seraph gladly took Bobby back to his home while picking up the Impala for Dean, because he knew having his beloved car back would make Dean happy. The seraph didn't believe everything was forgiven and forgotten that easily, but it seemed like his human friend at least wasn't too mad or disappointed anymore.

"Take care of yourself and you..." Dean replied with a nod, before he turned to Balthazar and added, "Take care of Cas."

The older Winchester wasn't quite over Castiel's betrayal, but the fact that everything turned out for the best for once made him feel benevolent. His angelic friend couldn't expect Dean not to wonder what he was getting up to when backs were turned anytime soon, but the older Winchester would give Castiel the chance to try to earn his full trust back.

"You fellows are always so great at making me feel like a valued part of the team," Balthazar snarked, giving a mock salute. Of course, he would take care of Castiel! He didn't need anybody to tell him so! Apparently, his dark-haired brother was convinced that they could fix heaven, Balthazar already made a mental note to watch Castiel's back very closely. Cassy had the best intentions for sure, but he might be a little too naive and idealistic. Balthazar was worldly-wise and realistic enough to make up for that.

"It is hard to tell how long we will be needed in heaven, but if you should require our assistance, you can always direct a prayer to me," Castiel explained. Blue eyes met green in a soulful stare that immediately made Balthazar want to gag. Since it wasn't Balthazar who wanted to be on good terms with Dean at all costs, he actually made a few exaggerated gagging noises just for good measure. The dark-haired seraph gave his brother a short glare before he nodded to himself.

Castiel couldn't leave Dean without letting him know that he could always reach Castiel, if he needed -or wanted- to, but it was time for them to leave. The chaos in heaven wasn't getting any smaller and the dark-haired seraph had every intention and the means to change that.

"Yeah yeah, never further than a prayer away," Balthazar said in an overly dramatic tone, gesturing around for good measure before he became serious again, "Try not to give him too frequent booty calls!"

"Good to know. See you later, Cas," Dean replied, ignoring what Balthazar said even as he gave the blond angel a tight nod, "Douchebag."

Castiel couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from twitching. Some things didn't change and that was good too. The dark-haired seraph nodded toward his blond brother, signaling that it really was time for them to leave. Castiel had Gabriel's message for their brothers and sisters in his pocket and hope they would listen and understand in his heart. What else did they need?

 

* * *

 

 

_Brothers, sisters and all you gender ambiguous and undecided, hear the Archangel Gabriel's message. I am sure most of you remember me from the time I used to deliver our father's messages to you, but I thought I'd do it different this time. I'll write my own message for once and send Castiel and Balthazar to deliver it. Let's see how this works out for us._

_First of all, I understand you have to be confused. Michael and Raphael are gone, Lucifer disappeared, the Apocalypse is over... wait a second, the Apocalypse is over? It was our father's will, how can it be over without running its predestined course? To that I have to say, it was never our father's will. It was His plan for sure and maybe it is His will for this to happen somehow, someday. If it had been God's will for the Apocalypse to happen right here right now, nothing could have stopped it and you all know it. Apparently_ _as recent events have shown, He didn't have a problem with a change of plans._

_Humanity has been given another chance and I like to think so did heaven. Don't mourn the loss of old structures and orders. Celebrate free will! I am sure Castiel and Balthazar will gladly show you how. Enjoy your new freedom, enjoy your lives, be the best you can be and make the most out of it. It's in your hands now._

Chuck looked through the last page of the chapter he was writing once more with a small smile on his lips. Everything was coming together nicely. It was rare for the prophet to get the chance to let one of his books end on a happy note, but that made it all the more precious when it happened.

"Chuck?" Adam asked, distracting the prophet from his writing, "We're going to check out the neighborhood. You wanna come?"

It took the youngest Winchester a while to convince his angelic friend that a little stroll at least to the end of the street would be nice. Of course, Adam -and possibly Chuck- could've left Tarot at the house, but it wasn't the youngest Winchester's preferred option. They finally had the freedom to go wherever they wanted, they should make the most of it!

"It will be nice," Tarot added, sounding a little nervous, but hopeful. The sandy-haired seraph kept a tight grip on the sleeve of Adam's jacket as he stood slightly behind the human. Tarot wasn't quite as eager to get out there as his friend was, but he could always get back into the house where he felt safe within the blink of an eye now that he could use his wings again.

"Sure, just a minute," Chuck replied with a smile before he turned back to his computer. He only had to find a couple of fitting closing words. Then the prophet could go take a look at their neighborhood with his friends. It was about time they found out, if the town was as nice as it looked from the window.

_There is nothing more clichéd than a happy ending. There are only so many ways you can say 'and they lived happily ever after'._

_So, is this how this story ends?_

_Who knows?_

_It is the end of the big, cosmic plan for now, but Sam, Dean, their family, friends and foes are still out there, making up their own story as they go._


	50. Chapter 50

**Epilogue**

 

One moment Michael was pacing the throne room, considering the next steps that had to be takento win in the Apocalypse and the next his whole world was turned upside down. Literally.

If he didn't know better, the archangel would assume he was falling, but that was impossible. Angels who stood against their father fell, angels who didn't follow the rules and who ripped out their own graces in an act of ultimate disobedience fell.

Michael hadn't done anything wrong; he continued to follow his father's plans as much as possible even though it had been a long time since he last was in contact with God. In fact, Michael even told Raphael to be patient and wait for Dean to come to them -as it was supposed to happen- when the younger archangel came to him with plans of how to force the older Winchester to say yes. The archangel knew Dean would say yes when he was ready, because it was in the plan. No, Michael couldn't be falling, he hadn't done anything wrong.

The archangel's considerations were abruptly cut short when the uncomfortable sensation of falling was replaced with the much worse feeling of drowning. It didn't make any sense, angels didn't have to breathe, but Michael clearly felt that he was going to drown, if he didn't reach the surface soon.

Through a series of kicking and reaching movements that he poorly mimicked from seeing a humans swim a couple times over the centuries, it only took a few short moments until the archangel's head broke through the surface of the water, but it might as well have been hours for all it felt like; his lungs burned and the archangel was left coughing and gasping as he felt physical effects of panic and exhaustion. Michael was insanely relieved to notice he wasn't far from the beach. Nothing about his situation made any sense, but the archangel couldn't hope to come to a conclusion as long as drowning was still in the cards.

Once Michael made it to the beach, he flipped onto his back doing nothing but breathing heavily for some time. The archangel groaned as he shielded his eyes against the setting sun. Actually, having a physical form with the burn of aching limbs from his fall and fight with the water was what made the least sense. Michael hadn't taken a vessel in decades, but the body he was in was clearly human. In fact, it was a little too human, almost as if there was no angel inside.

The archangel considered simply remaining where he was until... The moment Michael realized there was nothing good he could hope for that would come for him was the moment he realized he had to get moving. Whatever happened to him, he was more vulnerable than he had ever been in all his existence. It wouldn't do him any good to be found by any demon or monster like this.

Hell, as long as he didn't know how he had come into this situation, it wouldn't be good to be found by anyone. The way things were going, betrayal honestly wasn't out of the question. Loyalties among angels weren't what they used to be. Actually, they hadn't been since Lucifer's fall and especially lately it was impossible to guess where the next attack would come from. Gabriel of all people had resurfaced just to betray heaven, after all.

Michael sat up abruptly as he thought of the youngest of his archangel brothers. Whatever this was, it reeked of Gabriel! Lucifer could be sneaky and a real backstabber, but this didn't feel like an act of war. Once Michael caught his breath he felt... good, despite how abnormal the entire situation was. Strangely enough that was what unsettled the archangel the most.

The archangel's shirt and jeans were starting to dry as he walked down a mostly empty street. The few people passing by didn't pay him any attention, which suited Michael just right, even though he wasn't used to this level of ignorance from those around him. The archangel shook his head because of his own stupid thoughts and was startled when he caught sight of his reflection in a window.

"That's not..." Michael stated, his eyes widening as he touched his face gingerly. The archangel was looking straight into John Winchester's eyes, but that wasn't possible. The man had once said yes to him, but he would have needed permission again to get back into his backup vessel. Not to mention John Winchester was dead, his body burned, his soul missing, so he couldn't consent to anything. Besides, the man had been over twenty years older when he died than Michael looked.

The archangel forced his feet to start moving again. He was getting more confused and lost with every passing second, but he had to... Michael stopped in his tracks once more. Truthfully, he had no idea what he had to do, but just standing in one spot until the answer came to him -if it ever did- didn't seem wise. As the archangel looked around his eyes landed on a sign pointing to a nearby church. It wasn't much, but it was a sign.

Maybe Michael should have prayed for one of his trusted brothers or sisters to come and get him, but he honestly wasn’t sure who he could trust. He had distanced himself from the other angels for millennia with minimal contact among them. In all honesty, there was only one person the archangel wanted to talk to. Only one person who could give him the answers he needed.

"Father, please hear me," Michael mumbled, closing his eyes as he sat in one of the pews, "What am I supposed to do?"

There were no rules, no protocols for a situation like this. Being thrown into a vessel and crash landing on Earth shouldn't have been possible. None of the godly laws Michael had been living by every single second of his existence told him what to do, where to go from here.

"I need direction," Michael whispered around the lump in his throat. He knew God hadn't spoken to any of them -other than Joshua, but that was only a rumor- in a very long time, but He couldn't watch all this and not have something to say! Michael had always been a faithful son and loyal to an absent father, God had to know that. He couldn't leave Michael with nothing! Michael sat in the pews for hours, praying, waiting for some kind of response or sign… at least something to give him guidance!

"Excuse me mister, but you've got to leave," a woman in her early twenties told the archangel in a nearly apologetic tone, "We're locking up for the night."

Michael was startled out of his continued silent pleas to his father and immediately stood up to leave. It was fruitless anyway. If God had an open ear for him, He would have spoken up by now. Michael belatedly realized he should have said something to the stranger, but he was already on his way out and she had a task to accomplish.

The archangel spotted a bench close to the church's entrance and for a lack of better options sat down on it. Michael had nowhere to go and no answers to any of his questions. He could still pray to one of the other angels... Michael was still considering which of his brothers and sisters were the most trustworthy when he heard someone approaching him. The woman must have finished whatever it was she had to do at the church.

"Do you have a place to go?" the dark-haired woman asked with a frown. The guy looked lost when she first saw him, but she hadn't attached much meaning to it. A lot of people were lost when they went to church outside of services. Taking a closer look, she noticed how rumpled, slightly dirty and damp his plaid shirt was. She would have assumed he was a homeless person, but while he gave off the air of someone who didn't belong there or knew what to do or where to go now, having no direction in every sense of the word kind of lost. On top of that, it was a small town and homelessness just wasn’t common in those parts; something didn't add up. "You weren't planning to spend the entire night out here, were you?"

Michael couldn't honestly answer that question. The truth was he didn't have a plan, which was the entire problem. Apparently, some of his inner turmoil was showing on his face, at least the woman seemed to clearly read something from his expression.

"Right," she said, clearing her throat awkwardly like she came to a decision, "Okay... uh... look, my uncle's the minister here and... well, he always says people aren't charitable enough this day and age."

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Michael replied, cocking his head as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do with the information he had been given. People probably weren't charitable enough, her uncle might be right there, but what was Michael supposed to do about it?

"Uh... we live over there," the woman clarified, pointing to a house close to the church, "There's a guest room and I guess I'm inviting you."

Michael blinked a few times, staring at the woman dumbly. He could use a place to stay while he sorted out his thoughts and figure out the entirety and limitations of his situation. That way he wouldn't have to make any rash decisions. Michael always was uncomfortable with rash decisions. He liked to consider all possibilities and reconcile what he thought needed to be done with his father's plans.

"You're not a crazy axe murderer or something, right?" the woman added as if on an afterthought.

"I don't possess an axe as you can see," Michael answered seriously, showing his hands and his lack of luggage. The archangel understood the question hadn't been completely serious, but he wasn't in the mood for jokes or finding a humorous answer.

"What a relief," the young woman huffed out a chuckle before she added cheerfully, "Well, c'mon then."

To tell the truth, she knew this was a spectacularly stupid idea, an idea likely to get her lectured by her aunt and uncle again, but the guy was so obviously lost and he looked harmless enough. Not to mention he probably had quite the story to tell, once she got him to talk. Maybe she was a little intrigued by the stranger in a town of sameness and boring, sue her.

"Do you have a name?" she prompted, stopping in front of the garden gate, "I'm Hope."

Michael couldn't help smiling at that, he liked to think he recognized a sign when he saw one.

"Michael."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading the story! There will be a third installment of the 46 series as soon as I get around to uploading it here. Please consider leaving a comment!


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